Health Care - Biotechnology: 2011 First

The buy side says: “Is there anything about these companies that Mark doesn’t know? I doubt it.”

ISI Group researcher Mark Schoenebaum makes it seven straight years in first place. “He hunts high and low for ideas — and usually finds them,” says one impressed investor. Schoenebaum, 38, reiterated his buy on Celgene Corp. in January, at $51.53, the month after data were presented at the American Society of Hematology’s annual meeting purporting to show that treating cancer patients with the Summit, New Jersey–based outfit’s Revlimid put them at greater risk of second primary malignancies. Schoenebaum argued that the risk was relatively small and was already factored into the price of the stock — and that sales of the drug were unlikely to be affected. In April the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it would review Revlimid’s safety and recommended that patients continue to use the medication as prescribed; that investigation is ongoing. Celgene’s shares rose 15.4 percent, to $59.47, and led the sector by 5.2 percentage points, through August.