Dr. Gilbertson: I currently cover 10 companies and they vary in magnitude of market cap. I cover Amgen (AMGN), which of course has a large market cap at 85 billion. But I tend to focus on smaller companies and companies that have unrecognized names and fall under people's radar screens. These would include companies like Vivus (VVUS), Maxim (MAXM), ID Biomedical (IDBE) and Avigen (AVGN) ' all with fairly dissimilar technologies. I like to have a spectrum of technologies in my coverage list so that investors can have choices. I also cover companies such as Amylin (AMLN), which has late-stage products; Ligand (LGND), which has several marketed products; Isis Pharmaceuticals (ISIS), which has novel technology in antisense; and Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (NABI), which has marketed products.
TWST: But there's no connection in technology or approach or anything
else.
Dr. Gilbertson: No. I try to keep it broad so that investors have
choices. I think it's always best to diversify one's investments, and
certainly with biotechnology, people should diversify their investments
because these tend to be higher-risk situations.
Tickers included in this excerpt: AMGN, AMLN, AVGN, DNA, IDBE, ISIS, LGND, LLY, MAXM, MEDI, NABI, VVUS
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