On Repligen

From the Fool:


Repligen offers a diverse portfolio of products used to grow cell cultures, measure bioprocess metrics during manufacturing, and purify products downstream. Investors don't have to be technically competent to appreciate the role that the company plays in the high-growth biopharma sector. After all, if biotech companies cannot safely and efficiently manufacture drug products, then they won't be in business very long.

The bioprocessing leader is relatively small compared with the better-known players in the space, such as General Electric's GE Healthcare subsidiary, Samsung BioLogics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Sartorius. But Repligen has done a great job making the most of its high-margin niche and geographic proximity to Boston, a world-leading biotech hub.

In the first nine months of 2019, Repligen reported revenue of $200 million and operating income of $30.2 million, for year-over-year growth of 41% and 66%, respectively. The business exited September fresh off its largest-ever acquisition and, after stock offerings, still had a record cash balance of $513 million. Shares gained 75% in 2019, easily topping the roughly 29% gain of the S&P 500.

Investors should have little doubt that the business can maintain its momentum. In 2018, the Food and Drug Administration approved a record 11 monoclonal antibodies (the main category of biologic drug), while more than 400 more were in development across the industry's pipeline. Combine that with gene therapies, other genetic medicines, and cellular medicines that receive billions of dollars in investment across the biopharma sector, and Repligen has "long-term investment" written all over it.