A feature here at TWST, in addition to our traditional roundtables and one on one interviews, is Off the Record. Here the analysts and CEOs speak on the condition of anonymity, telling us the picks they wouldn’t necessarily be able to share otherwise. Here’s what they picked as part of our Biotech special focus:

Celgene (CELG)-

• “I would give kudos to Sol Barer at Celgene. I think when they announced their acquisition last year of Pharmion, there was quite a lot of scrutiny on that, and I think the deal has worked out very well for them in terms of getting the competitive advantage of their drug Vidaza.”
• “Celgene bought Lifebank and I think they have a fabulous management team in their stem cell division and cellular division”

Genzyme (GENZ)-

• “I would point to Genzyme‘s Henri Termeer as one of the good guys. He has kept costs down at Genzyme and has really figured out ways to grow the business and diversify his revenue stream, so he would be on the top of my list.”
• “I’d have to mention Henri Termeer at Genzyme. I think the company has been very aggressive in going out and embarking on licensing deals for potentially best-in-class drugs for their long-term pipeline. They’ve been able to manage costs very well through some volatile markets recently. He should be viewed as top
  class management.”

For the full Biotech issue, including a roundtable forum on investing in Biotech stocks, as well interviews with top CEOs, click here.

In our special focus on Alternative Energy, we spoke with analyst Theodore O’Neill of Kaufman Bros., who talked to us a little bit about Investing in Green Technology. O’Neill felt that Solar Technology isn’t in a position to be economically feasible without subsidies any time soon. Here’s what he feels the industry would need to reach that:

Mr. O’Neill: If the solar industry is really going to get to parity, the production facilities that we have are going to have to improve pretty dramatically. Solar cells are semiconductors. If you look into a modern semiconductor factory, you see a process that is highly tuned to produce a particular yield in a particular product and the equipment used to tune the process is not in place at any of the solar manufacturers. So the solar industry is going to have to embrace bringing in a lot of the methodology and inspection equipment that you would find in a traditional semiconductor fab. Management will have to bring that into the solar business to really get to the professional level in order for this to become a real business.

For the complete Alternative Energy issue, including a full interview with Mr. O’Neill, other analysts in this space, and a wide variety of CEOS, click here.

Harris Collingwood has a fascinating article in the June issue of The Atlantic entitled, Do CEOs Matter?  While I am not in full agreement with Collingwood’s conclusions, I highly recommend that anyone interested in executive management and its impact read his latest piece.

Deere & Company DE (NYSE) the heavy equipment manufacturer that has been impacted by the recession has announced a change at the top.  Deere & Co. announced that president and chief operating officer and long time employee Samuel R. Allen would become the firm’s CEO on August 1.  Allen who has been with Deere since 1975 will succeed current CEO,  Robert W. Lane. Lane has been CEO since August 2000.  Lane will remain chairman until some point in the future when Allen will take that position as well.

The change at the top comes as Deere has been facing serious difficulties.  Deere has been cutting jobs and closing plants to deal with the recessionary forces buffeting the firm.  While the change comes at a difficult time, it demonstrates a clear succession plan and an opportunity for the firm to continue working on ways to address its current difficulties and still find new opportunities internationally.  Unlike many firms to day, Deere has demonstrated a clear succession approach.

Keep a close eye on the firm going forward as Allen takes over the executive reins.

For more:

Wall Street Journal

Reuters

Bloomberg