Value vs. opportunity

Some things change, some stay the same. What hasn't changed going into 2007 is that fundamentals still rule; what has changed is the absence of big cap names in this year's regulatory queue. And while the number of products with planned Phase III data events and regulatory submissions this year is similar to last, there aren't many with the potential of, say, a Lucentis, as many of the most interesting late-stage biotech compounds have disappeared into big pharma and big cap biotech after multiple years of asset grazing.

As a result, many investors polled in BioCentury's 15th annual review of buyside sentiment are looking at small and mid-cap companies with earlier stage products - a move born of necessity but underpinned by big pharma's need to feed its machine. Thus, while the buyside was interested in early stage products for all the wrong reasons 15 years ago, this time around their interest looks to be well placed. Indeed, 2007 could be the year of the Phase II...