Chovav has been a biotech analyst at Salomon Smith Barney since 1992. She also has four years of laboratory experience in molecular biology and genetic engineering. Industry Outlook and Style Biotech stocks have taken a roller-coaster ride in recent months. They lost one-third of their value by April but had made up most of that until recent turbulence again sent prices lower. The sector's March and April bloodletting vindicated Chovav's fears.
More companies are profitable, and there are more products on the market than ever before.
Chovav has a reputation for skepticism about her companies' projections of future revenue. HMOs have put enormous cost pressure on hospitals, making hospital drugs a tough sell. Amgen, the maker of top-selling anemia drug Epogen and cancer drug Neupogen, has several products in the pipeline. She expects four or five to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the next two years. Genentech has a wide range of products on the market, with more in the works.