Biotech Premium Database Frequently Asked Questions

What is BiotechWatch Premium?

BiotechWatch Premium is an online dynamic database of biotechnology companies. For investors and industry professionals interested in the biotechnology sector, BiotechWatch Premium is invaluable because it is the only resource that allows users to search, sort, and browse over the entire biotech sector based on everything from stock fundamentals to clinical trials. BiotechWatch Premium offers as much or as little sophistication as a user desires making it ideal for the everyone from novices to large cap fund managers.

What type of information does Biotech Watch Premium provide?

BiotechWatch Premium provides a broad range of information, from traditional fundamentals such as 52 week high and low, shares outstanding, and volume of shares traded, to derived values based on these and other parameters. All products in clinical development are tracked as well, so an investor can follow a drug's development process and its development milestones.

All information is as up-to-date as possible, meaning that all numerical information is updated every five minutes from a 20-minute delayed feed. Company news, financing information, and clinical trial details are updated constantly by our researchers. In most cases, these are added to our database moments from the time they become public information.

What interesting features does Biotech Watch Premum offer?

Numerical and clinical information can be sorted and prioritized across all publicly traded biotechnology companies. This provides insights as to how a company or group of companies compares within the larger context of the biotech sector.

When searching for companies to invest in, you may want to narrow your search to companies that have a particular numerical (stock price, for example) in a specific range of values. BiotechWatch Premium helps you decide what range might be useful by displaying the distribution of that numerical across all the companies in the database (or all companies within the search you are conducting at that time) in an easy-to-read histogram. These histograms are dynamically updated to provide a current snapshot of the numerical in question. By limiting the range values for a particular numerical, you are narrowing down to the companies that you would like to focus on. Several search restrictions may be imposed concurrently to narrow your search to fit a razor-sharp definition of companies of interest to you. Search parameters can be added and removed until the search returns companies of interest.

You can save sets of search parameters for later recall, thus giving you one-click access to your custom searches.

Throughout BiotechWatch Premium, you can click on a company's name to see its detail page. The detail page provides news, financing information, products under development and their clinical status in both tabular and detail formats.

Once you have your search narrowed to companies that interest you, you can sort them based on any parameter using simple sorting arrows.

You can choose from a number of predefined view options or create custom views that display exactly the columns of information you wish to see. Custom views can be saved by name for later recall or to easily switch between custom views you have created.

A print view is available that makes printing hard copies of your search results easy and convenient.

Using a saved search, you can save a portfolio of companies for later retrieval. You can then search within those companies, or even save searches within a list of specific companies.

How does one use the database or perform searches?

Beginning users will probably want to use one of the many default searches offered in BiotechWatch Premium. These give the user a one-click snapshot of companies that are interesting because they stand out in some way.

For example, companies that have a market capitalization (the value of all shares of the company multiplied by the current stock price) of least $50 million dollars, at least 2 years of cash reserves (based on the last quarter's rate of spending and cash reserves), products in late-stage clinical trials, and a stock trading price in the bottom half of its trading range over the past year may be undervalued companies with high growth potential. The default search page gives users easy access to a table of companies that meet these criteria at any given time.

Expert users may wish to perform similar types of searches, but they are afforded the option to customize each parameter of the search using over 25 unique searching and sorting parameters. A list of all searching and sorting parameters tracked by BiotechWatch Premium appears at the end of this page.

Quick searches offer users the ability to quickly enter in a keyword, company name, or list of ranges for fundamentals of interest and immediately see the companies that match those search parameters.

How many companies does Biotech Watch follow?

BiotechWatch tracks biotech and medical device companies. Our focus has been those that are publicly traded on the US stock exchanges (NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX). We are in the process of adding European, private, and large pharmaceutical companies. BiotechWatch currently follows more than 600 companies and over 5000 unique products and clinical trials for these companies.

How does Biotech Watch Premium compare to other information sources on the Internet?

BiotechWatch Premium is unique as it allows the sorting of both numerical and company information across the entire publicly traded biotech sector. The database is interactive and can be customized to meet an individual's needs. It is continuously updated to insure that it is as up-to-date and accurate as possible. Other information services provide news releases, but none provides this constellation of features. While the database is very sophisticated, the average person can master it in 2-3 sessions. It is worthwhile getting to know how to use the BiotechWatch Premium database, as its functionality is unrivaled in the biotech sector.

What doesn't the Biotech Watch Premium database do?

BiotechWatch Premium does not provide stock charts or full-text news releases. The BiotechWatch Premium database is designed to be used with other traditional investment tools and services, many of which provide news releases and charts for free.

BiotechWatch does not track large cap pharmaceutical companies because its focus is on the more volatile and information-sensitive biotech sector. The largest company currently tracked is Amgen, which in the broader market is generally considered a small to mid-cap company. The smaller, usually newer, companies that BiotechWatch tracks have the most growth potential and BiotechWatch offers users detailed information about them so they may make the most informed investment decisions possible.

What if I need help while in the Premium Database?

Definitions provided throughout BiotechWatch Premium help in understanding terms (both investment terms and our searching and sorting features) that may be unfamiliar. In addition, a highly detailed tutorial is provided to guide users in performing searches and fully utilizing the functions of the database. Technical assistance is available for registered users.

I am a user and I want to know more about how to use Biotech Watch Premium. Where do I begin?

Take our detailed tutorial. It will explain all of the functions of BiotechWatch Premium. Many users just log in and poke around and figure out how to use BiotechWatch Premium in a way that works for them. The small "def." buttons provide context-sensitive help about potentially confusing names and terms.

Who can benefit from using the Biotech Watch Premium database?

Anyone who is interested in the biotechnology sector can benefit. This includes average investors, money and fund managers, and professionals in the biotech industry.

What specific company characteristics are tracked by Biotech Watch Premium?