Analysts: Investors find safety in biotech stocks

Everyone's attention is focused on earnings this week, and it's Amgen's turn to face the music this afternoon after the markets close. Will those stricter rules on anemia drugs drag down its profits further? Can they beat analysts' forecasts of $1.08 a share?

Interestingly, the analysts are telling the Wall Street Journal that biotech stocks--generally considered the high-risk plays of earlier days [1]--have become a safe haven in a stormy market. While the Dow is down 30 percent, the Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Biotechnology Index has fallen only about 1 percent.

"People need their drugs" and biotech firms have numerous blockbusters already on pharmacy shelves. With patent expirations looming for many drugs owned by large pharmaceuticals, biotech's product line represents "some very valuable biologic capacity," says William Tanner, analyst at healthcare investment bank Leerink Swann.

- check out the AP report [2]on Amgen
- and read the stock story [3] from the Wall Street Journal

ALSO: Shares of Biogen Idec slid more than six percent after the company reported a slowing growth rate of new Tysabri patients. Report [4]

Related Articles:
Investors turn to pharma for yields [5]
Economy catches up with biotech investing [6]
Financial crisis clouds the future of biopharma
[1]In tough market, biotech shines [7] [1]