Greetings PSW members from Pharmboy!

This is my first shot at writing a formal post for everyone on a few biotech/pharma picks that I believe have promise for nice returns over the next 6 to 18 months.Much of the work here is a compilation of readings elsewhere, summarized for you all to make your own conclusions.Here we go:

Big Pharma

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) – has a robust pipeline in inflammation, cancer and other therapeutic areas.A few line extensions could do well generic simvistatin (Zocor) + Avandia) for cardio/diabetes.Will compete against Vytorin, and others like it.In the pipeline, GSK has an Orexin antagonist for sleep disorders (very hot area), several drugs for asthma/COPD in Phase II including a PDE-4 and FLAP inhibitor.The asthma/COPD drugs have huge potential as a monotherapy or in some combination, as they are the newest line of therapies that have come along for asthma/COPD in some time (GSKs strength). GSK also has a VLA4 antagonist for multiple sclerosis in phase II.

This is the first I have seen of this in a pipeline for clinical trials.VLA4 is the target of Tysabri from BIIB.One hypothesis is that a small molecule that binds to the receptor but does not completely knock out the receptor like a mAb may be better for MS patients.Remember, Tysabri has a potential of a rare neurological condition progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) when administered in combination with interferon beta-1a, another immunosuppressive drug often used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

One other note for growth, Amgen (AMGN) revealed its commercialization strategy for osteoporosis treatment, denosumab, one of the most keenly anticipated new drugs set to reach the market for several years, naming GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) as partner in Europe and other countries.GSK has several cancer treatments as well as vaccines in various stages, so it is my belief that their pipeline is rich and diverse. Current yield is 4.8%.

Phi’s Take: 4.8% and Pharm likes the pipeline – say no more! We have nice solid support building at the200 dma at $34 and the 50 dma already crossed up and is at $38 so we can be pretty confident that we can hold the early 2008 lows at $38 long-term. That makes this a nice buy/write as we want the dividend (so we need the stock) and we wouldn’t mind buying more cheaper. Best to go with the long play here with the stock…