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Summary: A Pleasure
Review: A one-stop source for investing in biotech, crisp, clear and to the point! Informative!
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Summary: Go, Biotech, Go!
Review: A way, way cool book. Just what the individual investor needs to start to get up to speed in the biotech sector. Much has happened in this sector since "Biotech Bible" was published, so investors must exercise due diligence and follow up on the companies cited. The current market suggests investors need to pick fewer and better biotech companies (especially those with products in promising Phase III trial, or those with actual profits). I'm resisting George Wolff's optimism for now and conserving cash, ready to purchase breakthrough biotech companies once their long-term survival becomes likely.
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Summary: Review
Review: At last a book that makes some sense of the biotech sector! The author, George Wolff has a very straightforward approach, starting with the big picture of the industry's development and then getting down to specifics about market behavior such as the reasons for the sector's incredible volatility. Wolff's analysis involves breaking the sector down in Four Tiers. Each behaves somewhat differently with the lowest Tier being both the riskiest and the cheapest to buy into. Tier One encompasses the well-known majors such as Amgen, which are relatively safe but less exciting plays. I think Wolff has set out a framework of understanding that allows investors to discriminate among the companies to find a reasonable balance of growth potential and security. Most of the book is strictly about investment analysis but the second part of it (Book 2) tries to decode the scientific background. I like his analogy, comparing the workings of DNA and cellular machinery to the innards of a computer. It's a clear enough explanation to convince me that I finally understand this abstract stuff. All in all, a good, illuminating read for people like me who are interested in the industry and where it's going. The investment advice is sensible and has a reasonable tone....not a "get rich quick book." I know there's another book on the market that looks strictly at the medical side of the biotech business. I like the fact the Wolff has gone beyond that to look at the ways the industry can affect a lot of other major sectors such as energy, chemicals, textiles and so on. Wolff believes biotech is going to become the biggest industry in the world and now that I see where the industry is headed, I think he's right.
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Summary: Exceptional Primer in Biotech Investing
Review: George Wolff knows investing and knows biotech. He also has excellent writing skills. His process for separating biotech investments into four categories according to risk is very useful. Definitive criteria for the process are provided. The gates that a biotech company has to get through to bring a drug to market are presented with time lines and risk factors. Specific examples of the "rise and fall" of actual companies are included and discussed. The second half of the book presents a basic overview of genomics to get the reader's "feet on the ground" in this area. If you are seeking basic information on biotech investing, this is the book for you. Wolff's comprehensive list of biotech information sites on the Internet alone is worth the price of the book.
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Summary: Invaluable Biotech Reference
Review: George Wolff's Biotech Investor's Bible has been an invaluable reference to me on different levels. First, I have been an investor in biotech stocks during the past three years and have experienced the ups and downs of this volitile market without knowing much about these stocks. Mr. Wolff's book is written in a style that makes a complex subject understandable, and addresses what biotech companies are doing and why, and how they integrate with allied industries in giving us all hope for major inroads into conquering diseases and revolutionizing medicine as we know it. Most important to me is his assertion that biotechs are not quite the same as dot.coms and other tech stocks which shot up astronomically with little subtance to support their valuation. Although some biotechs are undercapitalized, and some have too little product in the "pipeline" and will not survive, several of the biotechs should be very good investments for a long time. With his help, I know better how to research and "check out" key data to make sure my biotech investments are sound. Second, as an independent employee benefits consultant to employers, I am very aware of the major problem of rising medical costs, and wanted to know how bio-technology will affect the future cost of employer medical benefits plans. Mr. Wolff's book gave me an insight into what biotech firms are doing for disease management, a major driving force within many medical plans. His descriptions of the years of research and billions of dollars invested into biotech advancements imply they will no doubt add to the bottom line of what we pay for medical insurance. However, the results may produce medical preventions and cures that also have the potential to minimize physician and hospital costs that drive medical benefits plans. Particularly interesting to me are Mr. Wolff's concerns that privacy issues may be a problem for insurance companies who may be unable to access mappings of the genes of individual insured persons, some of whom may be identified very early in their lives as having a propensity for particular medical problems. In conclusion, Mr. Wolff's Biotech Investor's Bible is a sound investment for the investor in biotech stocks because it provides a good understanding of the fundamentals driving the market for these stocks, and it is also a good read for anyone interested in the future of medical advancements that have the potential to better the quality of our lives.
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Summary: Biotech Perspective
Review: Good review of the various biotech subsectors and future biotech trends. The book compares biotech to the PC industry and gives a fairly good insight about what might happen from an industrial and investing perspective.
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Summary: Excellent Book! but...
Review: I am a neurobiologist who is interested in biotech invest. I agree with all other reviewers about how excellent this book is. But I have to point out several disappointments. First, author's website... is not available any more. Second, most of the websites that author recommended for resources are not free anymore... Third, chapter 10 which author had tried to explain the science background of biotech industry and compared it to PC industry does not make sense to me, and some concepts are misleading and dangerously wrong, and they really bothered me. He did a fairly good job to explain what some companies are doing though. It has been less than two year since this books was published, like author mentioned that biotech industry is unstable, I found that some companies even in Tier 1 sector (author's classification) do not even exist anymore. Therefore, do your homework before you invest on some companies mentioned in this book(author prewarned this). Overall, I really learned a lot about biotech industry sector, and it made me to have better perspectives about what I am doing in the lab and my career development. I could come up with a list of several companies for the investment after reading this book and my own homework. I want to recommend this book to graduate students, postdocs in biomedical research field.
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Summary: Biotech - What every serious investror must know.
Review: I highly recommend this important book! You would have to be living under a rock to have not heard about the great advances made recently in genetics and biotechnology. The potential for a cure to cancer, the ability to fix previously incurable diseases, and many other medical advancements are becoming closer to reality because of biotechnology. But where could an investor go to educate himself on the many issues facing this industry? Nowhere. Until now. Investors who can sort through the myriad of scientific, corporate and government issues relating to this industry will be have a great advantage over the rest of us. George Wolff's highly readable primer gives its readers this advantage. As an investment advisor, I know the great potential of biotech. All you need to do is look at the multi-hundred billion dollar market capitalization of the Mercks and Pfizers to know that success in drug development holds the key to untold riches. But which companies will get there? How do you as an investor approach this very complex field? George Wolff's Biotech Investor's Bible thoughtfully lays out the key issues an investor must be familiar with. Product pipelines, alliances with major drug companies, strategies companies use to speed up FDA trials, valuation techniques, and a myriad of other important issues are thoroughly explained by Wolff in plain English. A huge run-up in biotech stock prices in early 2000 was sparked by the expectation that the human genome would be mapped. The bubble burst in March 2000, leaving many of the hottest stocks broken and battered. The theoretical excitement however, has given way now to a market that is focused on the companies that have an aggregate of several hundred drugs in various stages of FDA trials. Many of these stocks have recovered and in some cases gone on to new highs. Wolff provides not only the overview of the industry you need, but also the means to determine which individual companies show the greatest promise. Without this book and its comprehensive explanation of biotech investing, I would never attempt to participate in this market. But you should ask yourself: can you afford not to? With the tech sector in a shambles, with the stock market stagnating in general, what will bring on the next high-growth trend? A strong case for biotech is made by the author. The fast pace of research, the growing base of scientific knowledge in the field, and the several current winners like Amgen which sports a $65 billion market capitalization, all clearly point to the future development of many new, effective treatments which will be brought forth at an ever-increasing rate for decades to come. I for one plan to stay informed and involved with my investment dollars. You truly would omit this book from your reading list at your own financial peril.
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Summary: The best biotech book on the market
Review: I read dozens of investment books. I have never read one that is as cogent and helpful as The Biotech Investor's Bible. It has signiificantly helped me develop a realistic criteria for choosing which biotech stocks to invest in. It will have a permant place on my shelf of investment books.
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Summary: The Biotech Investor's Bible
Review: Kudos to George Wolff for not dumbing down biotech. The Biotech Investor's Bible is a serious work for those serious about making money. One does not have to read the last third on the science of biotechnology, but I would highly recommend studying the first two-thirds on investing very closely. While complex, Wolff's theories on evaluating companies are well thought out and demonstrate a great deal of research that would be beyond the abilities of most investors. One can, however, parlay that knowledge into building a portfolio in what will surely become the world's biggest industry.
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