Oncology Names Stand Out Within Emerging Biotech Industry

September 17, 2012

The rapidly evolving oncology space offers interesting opportunities and potential growth for investors within the biotechnology sector, where new data is presented frequently, and studies often take a shorter period of time compared to some other indications, such as figuring out cholesterol, says Boris Peaker, an Executive Director and Senior Analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

“Obviously, with each one, if we look individually, there is a risk with any one particular company and particular drug that’s unique to that specific drug. Obviously, a lot of these are development-stage drugs, so there’s obviously a risk that they will fail in clinical studies. That’s kind of global risk in the biotech space, so each one has its own profile,” he said.

Peaker has Celldex Therapeutics (CLDX) as a top pick among the smaller names in the oncology space. He says the company’s opportunity in the breast cancer space and the data it is going to present in December may be exciting for the biotech sector.

“So in the oncology space, some of the interesting new developments are Celldex as a new drug in breast cancer, which is targeting a completely novel target, which is certainly exciting with some of the early stages of development, but the initial data is very encouraging,” Peaker said.