As I've said before, buying a drugmaker with true billion-dollar "blockbuster" potential is like grabbing a license to print money.
Of course, it's always at least possible to grab these shares on their way up, but that's a little like fixing the barn door after the horses have bolted.
For the biggest possible pharma profits, investors have to look ahead into the firm's "pipeline," its arsenal of yet-to-be-released drugs that's critical to keeping a drug company competitive in the long term.