Paladin Laboratories is a small but fast-growing pharmaceutical company focused on niche markets that may be underserved by the giant drug companies. Founded in 1996 as a spinoff of Pharmascience Inc., the company became profitable in its third year.

The company's focus is commercialization of specialty products, not research. It acquires or in-licenses late-stage specialty pharmaceuticals from other small to medium sized pharma and biotechnology companies with little or no sales and marketing expertise in Canada. And it acquires products from large multi-national pharmaceutical companies that don't want to expend the resources necessary to market to small niche areas or to Canada.

Paladin has 31 products already available of which six were launched in 2000 and 2001. It has a further four products in phase II and six in phase III development. Areas focused on include urology, endocrinology, dermatology and palliative care.

President and CEO Jonathan Goodman and Marketing Veep Mark Beaudet both cut their teeth in brand management for Procter & Gamble's Health Care division. This experience has served the company well in serving its niche markets.

The third quarter to Sept. 30, 2001 saw the company strengthen its product line with the licensing of Propyl-Thyracil^®, a drug for hyperthyroidism, from Merck Frosst Canada. Since then it has acquired the Canadian rights to Rogitine^®, a treatment for hypertension, from Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Rogitine^®, in conjunction with other products, has been used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction - an area of medicine that gained prominent publicity with the release of Pfizer's Viagra.

Paladin Labs is virtually debt free with $22 million in cash and securities in its coffers. It was featured in the 2000 Profit 100 as one of the "hottest startups" in Canada. An extensive article on Paladin in the May 2000 issue of Montreal Business Magazine is well worth the read if you want additional information.

The stock has had a sudden strong run-up since Nov. 8th when third quarter results were announced. You may want to wait for a pullback. But with its strong track record and solid management team, long term growth is certainly a strong probability.