Biotech Bonanza: Stocks to Watch at ASCO

Are you ready to ASCO?

The annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology kicks off June 1 in Chicago. The five-day conference brings together thousands of cancer researchers and drug and biotech companies from around the world to hear about the latest advances.

And Wall Street is there in force, too, of course.

With plenty of time to prepare, here are a few storylines investors should pay attention to at ASCO 2007:

The most anticipated clinical data -- at least from a Wall Street perspective -- comes from Onyx Pharmaceuticals(ONXX Quote). The big question: How good is its drug Nexavar in treating liver cancer?

In February, Onyx and partner Bayer announced the early stoppage of their phase III Nexavar liver cancer study after an interim analysis found patients taking Nexavar were living longer than patients on placebo.

The two companies withheld actual data from this announcement so it could be presented at a medical meeting, which will take place June 4 during the big plenary session at ASCO.

The fact that the Nexavar study was stopped early suggests the drug provided a significant boost in survival, but we'll wait for the presentation for exact details.

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At past ASCOs, Amgen(AMGN Quote) and Johnson & Johnson(JNJ Quote) engaged in a "war of the schwag" to see which company could plaster the brand name of their respective anemia drugs - Aranesp and Procrit -- on more walls, posters, bags, coffee mugs, squeeze toys and various other useless paraphernalia.