I discovered OncoMed this week doing searches for new ideas and while we haven't featured the stock yet it's a very compelling story. Targeted approaches to curing cancer became all the rage about a decade ago and while their work has been tedious, success is around the corner. I thought about this company and the uphill battle Republicans face in delaying or defunding the new healthcare law. The real challenge is to find a way to cull out the bad parts and keep the good, except there's so much more of the former.
Our Mission
OncoMed Pharmaceuticals (OMED)is a development-stage biotechnology company dedicated to improving cancer treatment by discovering and developing monoclonal antibodies and other agents that target the biologic pathways critical to tumor initiating cells, also known as "cancer stem cells". We are leveraging our understanding of these tumor initiating cells to discover and develop novel therapeutics that could provide important alternatives for the treatment of cancer. http://www.oncomed.com/
To starve or to delay, that is the question, and it's gnawing at Republicans seeking ways to derail full implementation of Obamacare which is on the eve of its next phase. For a long time I thought it was more rhetoric than reality, this is President Obama's signature accomplishment, after all. But as each day goes by I'm beginning to think there could be a huge groundswell of opposition from all directions. The plan is already having negative consequences on our economy, as there is no doubt in my mind immediate disbandment would add two percentage points to GDP growth. As it stands 2013 has become the year of the Part Time Job and even those are scarce.
I think the general public will turn on this unlikeable law because the big boys that were demonized to sell this in the first place are getting more and more breaks.
First, it was big business and the so-called employer mandate getting a pass on the penalty (tax) of not providing coverage even as individuals will still face such levies.
Now, we've learned limits on out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles and co-pays are going to be skipped for at least a year. The idea was individuals would be capped at $6,350 and families at $12,700 in such costs. Those numbers seem large except when you're suffering from cancer, heart ailments or multiple sclerosis and other ailments that send you to the doctor just about weekly. So, now we have big businesses getting a break and insurance companies getting yet another break, and there are hints unions have some special passes coming real soon, too.
I guess targeting this thing would be like peeling the outer layer of a watermelon and considering the rest the "cancer stem cell."
Maybe it can be de-funded, delayed or just junked.
