Feuerstein's Biotech-Stock Mailbag

Welcome to the Columbus Day Weekend edition of the Biotech Mailbag.

True story: When I lived in San Francisco, my kids didn't get the day off from school for Columbus Day. Instead, they spent the day celebrating "Indigenous Peoples Day." As my daughter explained to me, you can't "discover" a new world when plenty of people live there already.

Now we live in Boston and let's just say that my kids' new school has a different, more traditional take on ol' Chris Columbus. They get the day off, too. The West Coast-East Coast Columbus perception thing is interesting.

But enough about 15th-century European explorers. Let's get to your email. This week:

• Biogen Idec(BIIB Quote)
• Neurocrine Biosciences(NBIX Quote)
• Vion Pharmaceuticals(VION Quote)
• Panacos Pharmaceuticals(PANC Quote)
• Discovery Labs(DSCO Quote).

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John C. writes: "Is Biogen Idec a good buy right now? It's up over 34% for the year. Do you think it will keep trending upward? I don't see a lot of insider buying."

Biogen Idec has had a rock-star year. As I write this, with shares trading at $65.66, the stock is up 33% year to date, up 53% from its March low. No other big-cap biotech stock has performed as well in 2007.

Gilead Sciences(GILD Quote) and Celgene(CELG Quote) have done very well, but they only take the silver and bronze; Biogen Idec is the gold medalist.