February 19, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
The competition for the title of Best Hair in Biopharma added a new phase Thursday, when Bristol-Myers Squibb Company ‘s John Elicker was dubbed “simply incredible” by Analyst Mark Schoenebaum, a biotech and pharmaceuticals analyst and medical doctor for ISI Group Evercore.
“John Elicker’s hair was simply incredible,” wrote Schoenebaum in a note to investors. “Sorry Ron Cohen, but you’ve got some serious competition. Who do you think wins?”
The contest most recently had a new contestant at the end of January, after Receptos’ Chief Executive Officer Faheem Hasnain was named to the list by an analyst as a top contender for the prize.
“[When it comes to Hasnain] revel in the beauty of his coiffure (try not to be distracted by the shine from his perfect teeth or the awesome coolness of his open collar),” said Schoenebaum in a note on Jan. 21.
Still, Schoenebaum has long said that Hasnain’s chances are “increasingly competitive” with Elicker, Celgene ‘s Vice President of Investor Relations Patrick Flanigan and Acorda Therapeutics ‘s Ron Cohen.
Flanigan was the most recent entrant prior to Hasnain and Schoenebaum was specific about how solid his front-runner status could be if certain measures were taken cosmetically.
“As was widely expected by the Street, Patrick’s hair was beautifully coiffured,” wrote Schoenebaum in a note to investors in December. However, Flanigan could up his chances by using styling products, estimated the analyst.
“Interestingly, I was able to confirm that he, indeed, uses no product,” he said. “The Street is likely to increase Patrick’s chances of winning my ‘best hair’ award should he initiate product use.”
BioSpace Temperature Poll
Will Job Cuts Continue? After a week that saw Quintiles, Sanofi and Actavis slashing almost a 1,000 biotech jobs, BioSpace wonders if the ax will continue to fall. Give us your thoughts about the sector’s “streamlining” below.
