What is BiopharmIQ (BPIQ.com) and Who is Dom Vacchiano?
BiopharmIQ is a website launched in 2019 by father-son duo, Manny Vacchiano and Dom Vacchiano. The site is specifically geared toward biopharma/biotech traders and investors looking to perform due diligence on drug histories, catalyst events, and more.
What BiopharmIQ does is track and sort a multitude of critical company and drug-related information from SEC filings, press releases, investor calls, and biomedical conferences so that you as a biotech trader/investor have up-to-date information all in one place.
We’re talking about thousands of man-hours saved having to dig and source this information for yourself, providing you with much more time to perform focused analysis on the biotech companies, drug indications, and catalyst-types that interest you.
Some of the main features that the BiopharmIQ team provides for subscribers are not only the updated Catalyst Calendar, Pipeline Screener, and DrugIQ Cards, but also unique lists and analysis on upcoming Big Mover Events and potential Run Up Picks.
They even provide a handful of educational videos covering the regulatory landscape of the biotech sector, along with many of the nuances, volatility, and risks involved – so that you can be more prepared to turn information and data into effective action.
Learn much more about Dom Vacchiano and what the BioPharmIQ platform has to offer by reading the detailed Q&A below.
Learn More About BiopharmIQ in This Detailed Q&A With Dom Vacchiano:
MATT THOMAS: What is Your Background and What Led You to Start BiopharmIQ?
DOM VACCHIANO: As a bit of background, I have a master’s degree in Biotechnology and started BiopharmIQ (BPIQ for short) in late 2019 with my dad, Manny Vacchiano, who has a science background with a PhD in Biology and has been investing in biotech companies since the early 1990’s. In 2016 we started to invest in biotech companies in a more structured way with a series of tracking funds testing out various strategies. The strategies were focused on clinical stage mid-cap biotech companies so our diligence was primarily analyzing the clinical trial and prior data as well as some financial modeling. For companies on our radar we were tracking their catalyst events, prior data, competitors, etc. BiopharmIQ was sort of an extension of what we were doing internally. As of today we have data for over 600 biotech companies and 1,900 of their drug assets. This includes upcoming catalysts, drug histories, as well as other features. BiopharmIQ is very much a family business, along with myself and my dad we have a small team of advanced degree life science professionals helping us continue to grow and provide value.
MATT THOMAS: How Would You Describe How BiopharmIQ Stands Out From Industry Competitors?
DOM VACCHIANO: Our main goal is to help investors make money in biotech stocks. Our core product is centered around the catalyst events that drive these companies including clinical trial readouts, regulatory events including PDUFA approvals, etc. Where our product differs from what’s out there, and where we try to live up to our business goal, is in providing additional data that can help investors find and make profitable investments. This includes Big Mover stocks to watch, Future Mover Events, and Run Up Picks. Big Mover stocks to watch are potentially big moving events we identify each month that can help investors wade through the sea of catalyst events and identify those worth spending time analyzing. Future Mover Events are companies who we’ve identified as having major catalyst events but which may be months away. Run Up Picks are specific companies that we select as having the potential to run up into their upcoming catalyst events and could offer a way to make money in a potentially lower-risk fashion than holding through events. In addition we provide other time-saving data points including a monthly PDUFA tracker that highlights past CRL’s, advisory committee dates/votes, prior extensions, and track what new data is coming at major healthcare conferences where some companies provide needle moving updates.
MATT THOMAS: For New Subscribers, What is the Best Way to Maximize a BiopharmIQ Subscription?
DOM VACCHIANO: It depends on what type of investor you are. If you’re a trader interested in volatile stocks looking to be prepared at market open, our Big Mover events are a useful way to bolster up your watch list. If you’re a longer term investor focused on analyzing the science you can use our Catalyst Calendar and Drug Pipeline Screener to stay on top of your current holdings and help uncover new or competitive readouts. Each drug has their own page, coined Drug IQ Cards, where you can easily find links to historical events specific to that asset to access things like prior data and spend less time searching and more time diligencing. Lastly, if you’re brand new to the biotech space we have educational videos covering the clinical trial landscape, key terms, and other details we’ve picked up over the years to help jumpstart your biotech investing endeavors. The Run Up Picks would be a useful resource to get potential ideas in a potentially de-risked fashion.
MATT THOMAS: For Is BiopharmIQ For New Traders, Experienced Traders, or Traders of All Levels?
DOM VACCHIANO: We aim to make BiopharmIQ useful for traders of all levels. If you’re new and interested in the biotech space we have educational videos to help get you up to speed and give you insights into things we learned the hard way. For experienced investors having our data at their fingertips allows them to save time so they can focus on managing their investments. BiopharmIQ is really like having a personal research assistant by your side, not only saving you time but also providing potential investment ideas as well. Our Big Mover events and Run Up Picks can be useful by traders of all levels as ways to get new ideas.
MATT THOMAS: What Changes/Improvements Have You Made to BiopharmIQ Since Launching?
DOM VACCHIANO: When we launched in late 2019 we were focused on really getting the core product down, the catalyst event data. We initially built out the database with ~400 companies and ~1,500 drug assets. Now we have over 600 companies and over 1,900 drugs that we manually track their data for and are continuing to add more. Each weekday after market close we manually update the database with the many updates/readouts that happened that day so our users always have up-to-date data at their disposal. Since then we’ve also added other product offerings such as the Big Mover Events, Future Mover Events, and Run Up Picks. As biotech investors and core users of the product ourselves, we use our own feedback but also that of our customers to continue to find ways to improve the product and achieve our goal of helping investors make money in biotech stocks.
MATT THOMAS: Does BiopharmIQ Provide Any Free Resources For Biotech Traders and Investors?
DOM VACCHIANO: Yes, we have a free FDA Catalyst Calendar and also a free Drug Pipeline Screener which can be used to find upcoming catalyst events and also search our database of drugs. We also have a free PDUFA Calendar that shows upcoming PDUFA approval decisions, and a weekly newsletter where we share free articles and upcoming catalyst events for the week. While BPIQ Pro gives users full access to all the data and features, we have a BPIQ Lite tier which is free and gives users access to a certain number of premium features each day.
BiopharmIQ is Helping Traders and Investors Navigate the Biotechnology Sector:
There’s no doubt that the biotechnology sector is a unique space. One in which most companies are operating at a loss – dumping tens of millions of dollars into research and development. So just one successful drug can make a major difference for the business.
This is why certain events/catalysts, especially clinical trial report outs, can cause biotech stocks to move massively in either direction. If the report is bad, the stock price can potentially be cut in half. And if it’s good, the stock price can potentially double.
|Get Started With BiopharmIQ’s FDA Catalyst Calendar For Free|
|Check Current Pricing on a Full Access BiopharmIQ Pro Subscription|
The volatility and range one way or the other is what makes biotech trading/investing so promising for those who know how to safely approach it. It’s impossible to reduce risk completely, but understanding how the industry tends to operate is a great first step.
It also helps to have a database of catalysts to easily search/filter, company drug pipelines, potential big movers, and run up picks – all of which BiopharmIQ provides. This is time-saving information for serious biotech traders to focus on what really matters.
Please share any thoughts or questions you have about the BiopharmIQ platform in the comments section below.
Written by Matt Thomas (@MattThomasTP)
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