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Replies to #69829 on Biotech Values
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ghmm

12/10/08 3:55 PM

#69830 RE: DewDiligence #69829

Best All Time (though brief) Michael Astrue (TKT) don't hold the interim period he did as a favor at Epix against him :)
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DragonBits

12/10/08 4:01 PM

#69831 RE: DewDiligence #69829

I would pick Lonnie M. Smith, although a medical device company, I have to be impressed with someone that can take a company from obscurity to a 5 billion-market cap.

Hoping ISRG was close enough to the general field of biotech / pharma.
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quantumdot

12/10/08 4:06 PM

#69834 RE: DewDiligence #69829

Re: best and worst CEOs. These labels depend very much on your perspective as a long/short investor. I am sure there are a couple of big hedge funds around who think that Kelly Martin and Mitch Gold were sent from heaven. ;-)
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ghmm

12/11/08 8:58 PM

#69944 RE: DewDiligence #69829

Best CEO:

It seems people are quick to throw out names for bad CEO's but not too many responses on best. I'll add a couple more though I still vote Astrue #1 by far (others below aren't even close even though I like them):
1-J J Bienaime (BMRN) - Granted arrived at right time and had approval shortly after arrival. But unlike Fred Price who do a stupid deal outside of company core and burned through cash. JJ focused the company, built a strong balance sheet (at the time I thought he diluted too much but now it is a comfort having a lot of cash though I wish he would have raised it at 40 and not half that). Good hires and retentions (till Kakkis leaving but even then it seems like he made sure they could keep access to him).
2-Dan Welch (ITMN) - OK the stock hasn't done much but he has worked well with what he has had. A couple of things I wish he would have done different but he did some things that were extremely timely for the company. First dumping Infergen early, Also the Roche deal for 191 was done probably near the peak of exciting on PI's and their valuation for where they were at (good luck getting a deal like that today). The Pirfenidone royalty buyout was a gift but could turn out to be a steal of the century, the extension of the CAPACITY study and increase in power, size&duration was an astitute decision (after losing Actimmune in IPF the importance of success to the company is critical and whether it succeeds or fails he gave it as good as shot as one could by doing this).