Stock Gumshoe

This is one of several companies that were teased by The Medical Investor (whose special report tease about a medical device I just wrote up earlier today).

They’re basically arguing that this SNiP technique, which stands for single nucleotide polymorphism, is revolutionizing healthcare, and that you need to get involved with the companies that are profiting from it.

Essentially, this is about genetic testing to determine what diseases you might have (or be susceptible to). There’s plenty of gobbledygook about the science in the ad if you want to read that yourself. This is a broad concept, and for the companies working in this field it’s about finding the genes that determine your weight, your receptiveness (or adverse reactions to) various medications, etc.

In their own words, “Most people don’t know it, but doctors can now diagnose many diseases very early in their progression, simply by looking at your genes and biomarkers. And they can even tell, simply by running a few tests, which diseases you are likely to get in the future.”

“The “SNiP Technique” encompasses a slew of new diagnostic devices, drugs, and therapies—all of which test and treat you as an individual—based on your specific genetic makeup and biomarkers.”

And they cite a few companies that have already done very well thanks to some aspect of this SNiP stuff — including Affymetrix, Illumina and Immucor. All of them have had dramatic stock market returns.

And they offer a special report on this topic, but also offer to provide to you specifically “The 2 best SNiP Technique investments right now.”

And I think you know where we’re going with this — do you want to subscribe to the newsletter and get their special report? Or do you just want to find out the name of these two companies that the newsletter advisors think you should be buying right now?

I thought so. I’ll do this in two parts.

What they call “SNiP Technique Investment #2″ is a company that does testing for a range of microorganisms. What clues are given?

“the company has developed tests for HIV, hepatitis C, and the West Nile Virus in our nation’s blood supply”

“In Nov. 2005, President Bush gave this company the National Medal of Technology—our country’s highest honor for technological innovation.”

“Since 2003 this stock has been on a straight climb higher… up about 330% during that time. We believe those gains are only the beginning.”

So you can sign up to get their special report if you like — it’s called “The Doctor’s Retirement Package—How the SNiP Technique can Make you a Fortune Over the Next 5 Years.”

Or, you can just read on:

The Stock Gumshoe cognitationizer is running at half speed, so we’re supplying the name of one of these companies: SNiP Technique Investment #2 is …

Gen-Probe (GPRO)

They did indeed receive the 2004 National Medal of Technology from the White House (in a November, 2005 ceremony) for their testing technology, largely because of the protection it offers for the blood supply.

Unlike many of the biotech stocks I see in my efforts, this isn’t a tiny, unprofitable startup that trades over the counter — they’re on the Nasdaq, and they even have earnings (though they’re naturally not particularly cheap). And while it’s true that they have gone up over 330% since 2003, almost all of that gain happened during 2003 — the shares came close to $40 by early 2004 and are currently trading at about $48, though there has certainly been volatility along the way.

More on this in the near future as I tease out SNiP Technique Investment #1 … until then, happy researching, and let us know if you have any opinions to share about Gen-Probe, the SNiP Technique, or anything else.

Rob Fannon and Dr. George Huang are analysts for a newsletter called The Medical Investor, and their publisher, George Rayburn, has a deal for you … sign up for a subscription, and you’ll get their new report, “The Most Profitable New Medical Device Investment in the World Right Now.”

Or of course, since you’re a friend of the Stock Gumshoe … you can just read the rest of this post to see what the company’s name is.

What’s the product? It’s a medical device, some sort of imaging product, and they give a few clues about the company:

“It’s safer than X-Rays, MRIs, or CAT Scans, and is already approved by the FDA. So far, this new technology has been used on 450,000 patients worldwide, with amazing results for certain cancers and many gastrointestinal problems.”

43 patents in many of the big industrialized countries.

Shares up 25% since last summer.

Mentioned in several volumes of Nature.

Has a $50 million marketing deal with Johnson $ Johnson.

So we put all that together, and what do we find?

Just a sec’ while I fire up the informatibilization device …

Ah, here we go!

This company is …

Given Imaging (GIVN)

This is a smallish Israeli firm, and their key product is the Pill Cam — which is just what it sounds like, a tiny wireless camera in a capsule that’s small enough to swallow (though just barely — it doesn’t look like a fun mouthful to me).

They use this and the associated products — receivers that you wear on your body, computers to quickly download and interpret the images — to help diagnose problems with the whole gastrointestinal tract. I’m guessing that’s things like stomach cancer, colon cancer, etc., but didn’t read too much about it.

The Nature articles on this, by the way (and I did read parts of them — that’s how much your Gumshoe cares!), were largely about the lead this little company had in this area of imaging as of a couple years ago — and how the big leader in endoscopes, the wired camera’s that you swallow or (picture discomfort), Olympus, with 70% market share, was caught a bit flat footed by the pillcam technology and is trying to catch up in that niche. Don’t know if they have yet or not, but certainly any competitor with Canon’s size and reach would be worth investigating if you’re tempted by this company. In related news, GIVN announced an agreement yesterday to collaborate with Fujinon, one of Olympus’ major endoscope competitors, so maybe that will help them as well.

Analysts have them becoming profitable this year, though they weren’t last year. Don’t know much else about the company, but if you do please share with your collegial Gumshoe readers with a comment here. I do know that I’d rather swallow a pill than a tube, for what it’s worth. Happy researching. And if you want to know what another investment advisor, Peter Stansberry, thinks is the hottest new medical device investment (it’s different than this one), that post from last month is here.