Feuerstein's 2007 Biotech-Stock Report Card

It's report card time. I've been going back over a year's worth of biotech columns to assess my hits and misses for 2007. I'm pleased to report that there were more of the former than the latter.

At the top of the list is Onyx Pharmaceuticals(ONXX Quote), which was trading at $22 when I wrote a column on Feb. 12, the day the company announced positive results from a phase III study of its of its cancer drug Nexavar in liver cancer patients. I talked up the possibility that Onyx could be acquired at twice that price because investors were underestimating the upside revenue potential for Nexavar in liver cancer.

I kept up the reporting on Nexavar and its big potential in liver cancer throughout the spring and early summer. That perseverance paid off in the fall when Onyx shares took off, running all the way to a year-high of $61 in November. The company hasn't been acquired yet, but no one is complaining, least of all me.

One of my first columns in January talked about the compelling growth story at Gilead Sciences(GILD Quote) and called the stock a core biotech holding for any investor. Well, Gilead is up about 40% for the year, which makes it, by far, the top-performing big-cap biotech stock in 2007.

Sticking with the large-caps, let's talk about Amgen(AMGN Quote), which has occupied more of my time this year than any other biotech stock. I can't take credit for being an Amgen bear all year -- I was defending the stock in January and February despite the early hints of trouble. But as Amgen's problems really started to pile up in March and the selloff accelerated, I wrote -- correctly -- that the stock was a value trap.