Genomics Thread #2

Let's talk about gene sequencing...
1/ The first genome was sequenced in 1977 by Fred Sanger of a bacteriophage.

The first human genome wasn't sequenced until 2003 after 13 years of research through the Human Genome Project.

It took $3 billion (apparently $1 for each base pair 😅)
2/ In the past two decades, the cost of sequencing DNA has declined at an astounding rate.

From $3 billion with the Human Genome Project to well under $1,000 today.
3/ But before going deeper, let's make sure we understand what gene sequencing is and why it's important.

So what is it?

It's a complex process that reveals the exact order of base pairs (those A-T, C-G pairs we talked about) in your DNA.
4/ What's crazy is that 99.9% of human DNA is the same. The 0.1% differences make us unique.

These differences can be referred to as SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms).

And why is this important?...
5/ Knowing the exact sequence of DNA base pairs has many implications ranging from informing your familial disease history to understanding which genes are associated with certain diseases.

If DNA is your source code, a mutation is a software bug that can hopefully be fixed.
6/ As we talked about in the beginning, the 1st generation of sequencing was pioneered by Fred Sanger.

The next generation was short-read sequencing (SRS), viciously commercialized by Illumina.

Illumina still has a gigantic market share for high-throughput sequencing machines.
7/ But more recently, there is a 3rd generation of sequencing machines -- long-read sequencers (LRS), led by Pacific BioSciences and Oxford Nanopore.
8/ I won't go into the details but you can learn about the differences between PacBio's tech and Oxford Nanopore's here:

PacBio:


Oxford Nanopore:
End/

Short-read sequencers aren't going away but long-read sequencers seem to have a few key advantages that I will discuss in Genomics Thread #3 😁

Thanks for following along so far!

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More from @investing_city

27 Jan
Genomics Thread #1

Before diving into companies, let's make sure we understand some terms.

Spoiler: there's a WHOLE lot to learn...
1/ It starts with DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or your "genetic code."

It's a double-helix structure that is made up of chemical base-pairs (A pairs with T via 2 hydrogen bonds and C pairs with G via 3 hydrogen bonds).
2/ DNA sits in the nuclei of your cells.

How many cells do you have?

Roughly 37 trillion.

And our cells aren't static. They are actually dividing constantly.

How often?

Nearly 2 trillion times per day.
Read 11 tweets
26 Jan
Some slides I thought were really interesting from @ARKInvest's recent 2021 Big Ideas presentation...

Source: research.ark-invest.com/hubfs/1_Downlo…
1/ "Deep learning could create more economic value than the internet did"
2/ Freemium widens the funnel
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15 Jan
Following up on how GoodRx fits into this ecosystem...

continued [THREAD] ⬇️
1/ If you haven't already read through the prescription drug value chain, I'll give a super brief breakdown.

Distribution: Manufacturers -> Wholesalers -> Pharmacies

Payment: Employer -> Health insurance companies -> PBMs -> Distribution points
2/ GoodRx sits in an interesting spot, benefitting from the opaque industry and the PBMs specifically.

To be clear, GoodRx doesn't work with insurance.

It works if you're paying out-of-pocket.
Read 17 tweets
14 Jan
Took the afternoon to understand the prescription drug market a little better.

Here are some ramblings on the value chain...

[THREAD] ⬇️
1/ It starts with the manufacturer of the drug. These are the pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, Abbott Labs, AbbVie, Merck, GSK, etc.

Top 5 by revenue (in billions):

Johnson & Johnson – $56.1
Pfizer – $51.8
Roche – $49.2
Novartis – $47.5
Merck & Co. – $46.8
2/ As an aside, we're talking prescriptions which are usually chemical-based rather than organism-based. The latter are often researched by biotechs instead of pharma.

But pharma companies sometimes don't even manufacture the drugs themselves...
Read 23 tweets
1 Jan
My 10 most popular tweets from 2020

Happy New Year everybody!

[THREAD] ⬇️
Read 12 tweets
10 Dec 20
1/

I'm not sure about this C3.ai one.

Just because it got the "AI" ticker doesn't mean it should be up 124%!

The last 4 quarters (in mils):
$41.0
$41.6
$40.5
$41.3

Pretty much 0 sequential growth in almost one year...
2/

Three customers (Engie, Caterpillar, and Baker Hughes) make up 44% of revenue.

Very high customer concentration.

In fact, there are only 64 total customers.

These are some ENTERPRISE deals. Long sales cycles.
3/

Each of the top 3 customers makes up more than 10% of revenue.

If we split the 44% by 3 ways, the average contract value for these customers is $24 million.

The ACV for the remaining 61 customers is $1.5 million.
Read 9 tweets

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