The time has come for redefining the meaning of “creating shareholders value” in the biotech sector. Pinpointing the real value has become imperative. It is the road to a fair assessment of innovative biotech firms. It helps investors reap the fruits of the real value of excellent firms at the right time, rather than rush to sell extremely promising stocks while still undervalued. It makes investors think twice before throwing their shares of firms that are installing one by one the building blocks of their vision. Creating shareholders value is investing in the future. The cost of this investment shouldn’t be cause for downgrading the stocks because of overspending, which has become a normal pattern. We still see all development-stage biotech stock prices slashed following the announcement of their quarterly results. There is a big difference between spending on the future and spending because the money has been made available. Investors can know the difference. The first thing to look for is whether the firm has any program in development that is worth spending on, including buying firms having a technology that is badly required for the successful outcome of the firm’s program. This kind of investment should not be punished or treated as unnecessary spending. More...

The Food and Drug Administration has granted marketing approval ahead of time for Incyte’s drug Jakafi™ (ruxolitinib). The approval is for intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis (MF), including primary MF, post-polycythemia vera MF and post-essential thrombocythemia MF - indications that represent 80 to 90 percent of MF patients.  The drug, Jakafi is an oral JAK1 and JAK2 inhibitor. It is the first in a new class of drugs, known as JAK inhibitors and the first and only product to be approved by the FDA for MF. The drug is also in Phase III trials for polycythemia vera, in Phase II for essential thrombocythemia, pancreatic cancer and solid hematologic tumors. More...

We will not lose our breath running after all the news posted about the biotech industry. We will restrict our selection to the most significant announcements. While there is good news about biotech firms’ breakthroughs, it is lost amid the mass of articles announcing or assessing the firms’ finances, routine events, meetings and plans (that may or may not come to pass), in addition to results from very early-phase trials that mean very little at their stage. The excessive amount of news has become confusing, especially that many are not mere news, but opinionated articles that contradict each other’s opinions with, or without relevance.  More...