Only One Drug Away From Stardom

While the moves may be outsized, the gulf in market caps between the old and new biotechs looks promising.

Author:: Jim Cramer
Publish date:: Feb 16, 2000 7:42 PM EST

Before you say we should forget about the

biotech rotisserie league because the stocks are up so much, I have something to say: That's exactly what people told us 40% ago regarding the

B2B rotisserie league.

I know these moves have been outsized, to say the least, but when I look at the gulf in market caps between the new biotechs and the mature ones, what strikes me is that some of the former may be only one drug away from major stardom.

Don't get me wrong: I am investing paper money in the rotisserie league. The real thing will come during the price breaks. I'm just trying to get up to speed in an area where I know

Biogen

and

Amgen

(AMGN) - Get Report

, but

Millennium

(MLMN)

is foreign to me, even though I was an original investor in

LeukoSite

, the company Millennium recently purchased.

I'm approaching it this way, in cautious paper-trading style, because two years ago I went hog wild on the Competitive Local Exchange stocks right at the top, and if I'd waited I could have made some money buying some down but would have lost a fortune on others. I intend to leg in, similarly, to the biotechs that we draft, once I feel confident of the prospects. I am grateful -- we all should be grateful -- for the work of

Melissa "Genome" Kasper

, who put up some great squibs about each stock on our message boards.

Once again, here's our draft board. We'll be drafting on Monday.

James J. Cramer is manager of a hedge fund and co-founder of TheStreet.com. At time of publication, his fund was long Imclone Systems and Human Genome Sciences. His fund often buys and sells securities that are the subject of his columns, both before and after the columns are published, and the positions that his fund takes may change at any time. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Cramer's writings provide insights into the dynamics of money management and are not a solicitation for transactions. While he cannot provide investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to comment on his column at

jjcletters@thestreet.com.