Club Biomed:

a biotechnology investment club/ study group

for students, fellows and faculty

Everyone in biomedical science and medicine will be forced to deal with biotechnology or big pharmaceutical companies.

• We will work for them.
• We will compete with them.
• We will collaborate with them.
• We will depend on them for reagents.
• They support our research.
• Some of us will make money from them.
• Some of them will make money from our work.
• Our ability to treat patients will depend on the drugs and devices that these companies produce.
• We will be asked about the latest news releases at parties and gatherings of our relatives.
• Eventually, our health and the health of our friends will depend on the progress they make.

We are in a unique position to understand the scientific strategies, but we are often unprepared to evaluate these companies as businesses or as places to develop our careers. We believe that our investment club provides and opportunity to have a great time studying these companies and, occasionally, to invest in them.

Here is the general idea:

• We have formed Partnership of students, fellows, and faculty.
• We meet for 90 minutes 10 evening a year (once a month except for August and December).
• Individuals or small groups are studying individual firms or 'clusters' of firms that are defined by common approaches or similar financial conditions. These groups are reporting back to the Partners in the club.
• We talk about the plans of individual companies and decide if are likely to succeed.
• We follow the evolution of different types of firms over time.
• We invite outside speakers to share their knowledge with the group.
• We collect a contribution (from $25 to $100 per month) to be pooled in an investment fund and use the fund to buy and sell stocks as the group sees fit. Partners are the owners of the assets of the Club.
• We have set up a system that will allow participants to cash out’ when it is time for them to move on.
• We occasionally invite outside speakers to discuss topics that are of interest to our group (e.g., patents, the function of financial markets, the history and prospects of specific companies, the way to evaluate a company, the role of the FDA, etc.).
• Hopefully we will continue to learn a lot, have fun, develop an interesting group, and even make a little money!

If you are interested in joining Club Biomed (i.e., becoming a Partner):

• You can attend one of our meetings (generally the third Wednesday of the month, at 6:30, in E415).
• You can explore the Club Biomed Web site.
  • http://www-users.med.cornell.edu/~jawagne/Biomedical_Science_Investm.html
• To become a Partner, you will have to be proposed by one of the current Partners and voted into the partnership by the Partnership. We are always interested in individuals who can add to Club Biomed!