Do You Believe in Miracles? :: Michael Shulman's Biotech Blitz

Do You Believe in Miracles?

Do you believe in miracles -- at least medical miracles?

I do.

This week's news was dominated by some major events: the Supreme Court reversing Brown versus the Board of Education; reversing itself and saying it will review the right of prisoners at Guantanomo to appeal their confinement in federal courts; and the aborted London and Scottish terror bombings. And, of course the iPhone.

Let's start with the iPhone, which in turn starts with arguably the greatest marketer and one of the great businessmen of the last 50 years, Steve Jobs.

In case you're not aware, Jobs is, in addition to his miraculous business acumen, a medical miracle. In 2004 he was diagnosed with a very rare form of pancreatic cancer, operated on, and is now healthy. His form of the cancer -- islet cell neuroendocrine tumor -- hits only about 1% of the people who get pancreatic cancer and has become a curable form of the illness. A generation ago, Jobs would be dead. Seeming miraculous advances in diagnostic testing and micro surgery can be credited with kepping him alive.

No Jobs, and Apple itself may well have died in the late '90s.

Another miracle is a company called NitroMed Inc. (NTMD). It was developing a heat medication that did not prove more efficacious in trial than other available medications, but after a long look at the data it showed people of African American descent did much better in trial. Another trial, another set of data and the results were even more astounding: 43% fewer heart attacks or incidents.

But miracles, at least real miracles, only occur in storybooks. NitroMed totally screwed up the product marketing, insurance companies still don't believe the trial results and the black political leadership in this country obviously is more concerned with Al Sharpton's rant du jour than saving lives. And Its lead nitric oxide-enhancing medicine, BiDil -- being developed to reduce mortality and hospitalization and to improve the quality of life of African Americans diagnosed with heart failure -- continues to flounder in the marketplaces because it is too expensive and no one is fighting all that hard to make it easier to buy. The stock is in the tank, but someday, maybe, the miracle will occur and.....

OK, I'm doing the "steam-of-conscientiousness" thing, but the point is that what my parents called "miracles" -- at least scientific ones -- are often thwarted, buried or just plain lost by a lack of (what my grandmother called) a miracle. Sometimes it takes divine intervention to alter idiot human and/or corporate behavior.

The point for investors is that you have to search for the miracles -- both scientific and human -- when you're looking for the next great potential "super nova" biotech stock.

Comments

Do you believe in miracles -- at least medical miracles? I do. This week's news was dominated by some major events: the Supreme Court reversing Brown versus the Board of Education; reversing itself and saying it will review the right of prisoners at Guantanomo to appeal their confinement in federal courts; and the aborted London and Scottish terror bombings. And, of course the iPhone. Let's start with the iPhone, which in turn starts with arguably the greatest marketer and one of the great businessmen of the last 50 years, Steve Jobs. In case you're not aware, Jobs is, in addition to his miraculous business acumen, a medical miracle. In 2004 he was diagnosed with a very rare form of pancreatic cancer, operated on, and is now healthy. His form of the cancer -- islet cell neuroendocrine tumor -- hits only about 1% of the people who get pancreatic cancer and has become a curable form of the illness. A generation ago, Jobs would be dead. Seeming miraculous advances in diagnostic testing and micro surgery can be credited with kepping him alive. No Jobs, and Apple itself may well have died in the late '90s. Another miracle is a company called NitroMed Inc. (NTMD). It was developing a heat medication that did not prove more efficacious in trial than other available medications, but after a long look at the data it showed people of African American descent did much better in trial. Another trial, another set of data and the results were even more astounding: 43% fewer heart attacks or incidents. But miracles, at least real miracles, only occur in storybooks. NitroMed totally screwed up the product marketing, insurance companies still don't believe the trial results and the black political leadership in this country obviously is more concerned with Al Sharpton's rant du jour than saving lives. And Its lead nitric oxide-enhancing medicine, BiDil -- being developed to reduce mortality and hospitalization and to improve the quality of life of African Americans diagnosed with heart failure -- continues to flounder in the marketplaces because it is too expensive and no one is fighting all that hard to make it easier to buy. The stock is in the tank, but someday, maybe, the miracle will occur and..... OK, I'm doing the "steam-of-conscientiousness" thing, but the point is that what my parents called "miracles" -- at least scientific ones -- are often thwarted, buried or just plain lost by a lack of (what my grandmother called) a miracle. Sometimes it takes divine intervention to alter idiot human and/or corporate behavior. The point for investors is that you have to search for the miracles -- both scientific and human -- when you're looking for the next great potential "super nova" biotech stock.