[.ca] The Biotech Investor: How to Profit from the Coming Boom ... (ISBN 0805070699)

Well structured and interesting:
An excellent introduction to biotech investing. Tom Abate is a good writer and knows his subject. I thought this book was written in a guarded, pragmatic way that suits the reader's purpose (presumably investment). The dustjacket shouts of a 'coming boom' but the author can be forgiven for what is basically puffery. Abate is clearly arguing for a period of drawn out growth fuelled by demographics and accelerating technical progress - not an imminent goldrush. I gained a number of insights I consider valuable: -An understanding of the mechanism of FDA approval and how companies manage themselves around it. -The fluid business models of existing companies. -The way in which institutional fund managers seem to advocate active trading over a 'buy and hold' approach to biotech portfolios (this surprised me). Timely, relevant and convincingly argued. I'd probably buy another book by this author.

A strong dose of reality to the often hype driven sector:
Tom Abate has been covered the Biotech industry for the San Francisco Chronicle for years. It shows. He brings a strong dose of reality to this hype driven sector. Who this book is for: -Independent investors willing to spend a lot of time doing research -People looking for a current industry overview -Job seekers The Good: -Extremely well written -Up to Date (as of spring 2003) -Knowledgeable - several small tidbits of data pay for the book by themselves The Bad: -Will quickly go out of date. For example the Appendix contains a list of firm websites and market caps; Market Caps change - companies disappear. -Not enough FDA information. This should have been a separate chapter covering the FDA approval process in detail as well as other countries' processes. -Too much basic investment advice: firm valuation/free cash flow/ portfolio theory / investor risk profile. Other books do a better, more thorough job of this. -No bibliography I gave it 5 stars because if you are going to invest in biotech the book will more than pay for itself.