Tip of the month

My tip this month is the biotech cancer cure company Antisoma, for reasons that should see the penny share price hit 35p in six months. The firm is the subject of a couple of bid hopes. Swiss giant Novartis, for instance, is working with Antisoma on its AS404 cancer drug, which is now in Phase III clinical trials. This has triggered a £12.3m milestone payment from Novartis. The Swiss may prefer to buy Antisoma rather than make any more payments.

Other companies in the running include AstraZeneca, because Antisoma is one of the rare biotech companies with an attractive mix of late-stage drugs in its pipeline, and it has the cash to see them through to the market.

Boosted by the £12.3m Novartis payment, Antisoma swung from a loss into a profit of £13.9m. KBC predicts a pre-tax loss of £35m for 2009, but Antisoma has cash of £67m to take it through to a full data report on AS404 in 2010.

Buy Antisoma at 19.75p with a trailing 20 per cent stop/loss to protect yourself against any major stockmarket fallbacks.

Stockmarket and alternative investments can fall as well as rise in value. Readers should consult their own professional advisers.