Avoid This Biotech Stock

Updated

Each week, Motley Fool editors cull a top stock idea from the pitches made on CAPS, The Motley Fool's 180,000-member free investing community. Want your idea considered for this series? Make a compelling pitch on CAPS with a minimum length of 400 words. Want to follow our weekly picks? Subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter.

Company

Inhibitex (NAS: INHX)

Submitted By:

TSIF

Member Rating:

99.95

Submitted On:

11/6/2011

Stock Price at Underperform Recommendation:

$9.31

Inhibitex Profile

Star Rating

*

Headquarters

Alpharetta, Ga.

Industry

Biotechnology

Market Cap

$778 million

Industry Peers

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NAS: VRTX)
Gilead Sciences (NAS: GILD)

Sources: S&P Capital IQ, Yahoo! Finance, and Motley Fool CAPS.

This week's pitch:

I'm a huge proponent of drug companies and success with new drugs. I wish Inhibitex Inc all the best in [its] development, approval and successful launch of a new Hep C drug. My issue is short term surrounding the 115% one day share price POP this past Friday, (11/4/2011). Positive results on safety and efficiency are welcoming news on the LONG ROAD to the FDA hearings and [judgment]. The questions of how much work is still needed, the risk, and the timeline sometimes escapes investors jumping on the biopharm bandwagon. The other question becomes competition, pricing, and the ability to launch the product or secure a buyout from a bigger firm. Dendreon (NAS: DNDN) , Savient Pharmaceuticals (NAS: SVNT) and Human Genome Sciences (NAS: HGSI) are recent examples that even if you successfully navigate the crooked [winding] road, the money is not waiting to be handed to you.

There are too many steps left in the [winding] road where results could temper the excitement and I expect a pullback.

Inhibitex has a lower market cap than competition Pharmasset (NAS: VRUS) , but that doesn't mean either will be approved or that both can share the market demand. Pharmasset is also sitting on about 4X more cash. Either way, it's not about comparing the two against each other, it's about Inhibitex Inc and its own [winding] road.

Again, all the best to them. No short here, just a short term CAPS play that there will be a cooling off play as the infectious outlook moves back into another waiting game.

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At the time thisarticle was published The Motley Fool is investors writing for investors.Dan Dzombakhad no position in any of the companies mentioned in this article. Pitches must be compelling, made in the past 30 days, and be at least 400 words.The Motley Fool owns shares of Dendreon.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Gilead Sciences and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.The Motley Fool is investors writing for investors.Dan Dzombakhad no position in any of the companies mentioned in this article. Pitches must be compelling, made in the past 30 days, and be at least 400 words.The Motley Fool owns shares of Dendreon.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Gilead Sciences and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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