Episode summary
From medicine to markets: Long-term biotech investing
Capital Ideas Podcast
· · 20 min · Hosts: Debbie Leow · Guests: Judith Finegold
Summary
Judith Finegold says her edge as a biotech investor comes from being a former cardiologist who worked in clinical research and trials. That background helps her evaluate drug pipelines from pre-clinical work through patient outcomes, and it shapes how she thinks about what will matter to future earnings, not just near-term headlines.
She argues that the most interesting opportunities in U.S. biotech often sit in small- and mid-cap companies, where science and innovation are richest and where differentiated research can matter most. She also stresses that investors cannot focus on science alone: management quality, trial design, and business development can make or break even a promising asset.
Finegold highlights two areas she thinks the market may underappreciate: GLP-1s beyond obesity, and Lp(a), a lipid present in a large share of the population and tied to cardiovascular risk. She expects the first Lp(a) trial readout this year and thinks the category could become a massive market if lowering it proves beneficial.
Key takeaways
- Finegold says her medical training matters because she can judge whether a drug is likely to work from pre-clinical studies through trials and real patients.
- She thinks small- and mid-cap biotech is the richest hunting ground because much of large-cap pharma’s future revenue comes from acquisitions of smaller companies.
- Finegold warns that great science can be destroyed by poor management, bad partnering decisions, or a poorly run trial.
- She believes GLP-1s still have room to improve on tolerability and mechanism, while Lp(a) could open a huge new cardiovascular market.
- She says Capital Group’s long-term horizon lets her tolerate biotech volatility as long as the thesis is intact.
Notable quotes
“the basis of that is understanding the drugs in their pipeline, and the drugs that create revenues, and understanding how that's going to translate in the future”
“I think so. Obviously, if you're talking about a mega cap, the science is very important, but there's other things that you also need to ask the management team”
“So, 50% of kind of large-cap revenues generally comes from acquisitions they've done from small and mid caps”
“I think it's going to be a massive market, because as I said, it could be raised in up to 20% of the world's population”
“Not every risk in life pans out, but if you try with enthusiasm and you keep your mind open, then you'll find your path eventually”
How the episode opens
- Hi, I'm Mike Gitlin. Welcome to another episode of our "Capital Ideas" podcast, where we get to know the people behind the portfolios. Today, we have Judith Finegold with us.
Judith is an equity analyst based in our London office. Been at Capital Group just under five years. And today, we're going to talk about how her medical background gives her an edge to investing in biotech.
Judith, welcome to the podcast. Glad you could be here. - Thank you, Mike.
Great to be here. - Only 10-hour flight from London, so that's all right. We're glad you made it.
We're going to do something a little different this time, and we're going to start with your investment edge. You do have a very different investment edge. Can you share that with us, please?
- Sure. Maybe I'll just talk to you a little bit about my background first. - Perfect.
- Because I think it explains a little bit about my investment edge. So, I was at first a doctor. I worked in the United Kingdom for about nine years, and I was specializing as a cardiologist when I left.
So, at the end of my work I was also doing clinical research and doing trials. And I became very interested in kind of the interface between the trials that I was doing and what was happening in the industry, because there was actually quite a lot of overlap. And I got this idea, what if I could go and be a health care investor?
And I call it an idea because it was a spark of enthusiasm, but that wasn't a great plan. - It was just in your mind to have this clinical experience. Can I translate that into investing?
Is that- - Yeah. So, my research that I was doing was actually using a company device.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- biotech investing
- drug pipelines
- clinical trials
- small and mid cap biotech
- long-term biotech risk
Watch the episode
Watch “From medicine to markets: Long-term biotech investing” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Capital Ideas Podcast, this episode and its artwork belong to Capital Group. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
