−6.3%
since Oct 1
The idea
I believe the economy is starting to pay more for discovery than for known facts, since AI makes knowledge cheap but keeps accelerating the rate of new attempts at drugs, materials, and chip designs. Rather than pick which lab wins, I own the tools everyone doing that work needs: lab instrument makers, simulation and AI-for-science software, DNA reading and writing companies, and lab automation firms, spread across many names instead of concentrated bets.
What it owns
- These companies sell the core instruments, consumables and services that labs worldwide depend on for every discovery attempt, collecting revenue regardless of which research projects succeed. · Thermo Fisher ScientificIt is the largest seller of instruments, consumables and services to research and biopharma labs worldwide, so it collects revenue on nearly every discovery attempt., DanaherIt owns a portfolio of life-science and diagnostics businesses that get paid as biology research and drug production scale, and it compounds by acquiring and improving tool businesses discovery work depends on., Agilent TechnologiesIt supplies the chromatography, spectroscopy and lab instruments that chemistry and biology labs run daily, plus the recurring consumables and services those instruments require., Waters CorporationIt dominates liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry for determining what molecules actually are, with high-margin recurring revenue from its installed base., BrukerIt sells the heavy scientific instruments like NMR, mass spectrometry and advanced microscopy that frontier research cannot do without., Mettler-ToledoIt makes the balances and precision measurement gear that sit in essentially every laboratory and quality-control line globally, since every experiment starts with accurate weighing., RevvityIt sells the reagents, instruments and software that life-science labs and diagnostics providers consume daily as discovery and testing volumes grow.34%
- These companies provide the software platforms that let researchers test ideas on computers before building or testing them physically, displacing some wet-lab work with computation. · SchrodingerIt sells physics-based simulation software that lets drug hunters test molecules on a computer before synthesizing them, representing computational drug design in its purest form., Cadence Design SystemsIt is half of the chip-design software duopoly and is extending that simulation-first approach into drug discovery and systems design as design activity grows., SynopsysIt sells the core software without which modern chip design cannot happen, and chips are now central to many discovery attempts., CertaraIt sells biosimulation software that models how drugs behave in the body, letting companies and regulators replace some human and animal testing with computation.19%
- These companies provide the tools and platforms that let researchers generate and sequence biological data at scale, from reading DNA to synthesizing it to studying individual cells. · IlluminaIt makes the machines that read DNA, the foundational data layer of biological discovery, and gets paid per run on a large installed base., Twist BioscienceIt writes DNA to order on silicon chips, so every attempt to engineer biology can begin with inexpensive synthetic genes made at scale., 10x GenomicsIt sells the tools that let researchers study biology one cell at a time, a resolution the discovery economy increasingly demands as the field moves beyond bulk analysis., Ginkgo BioworksIt runs a platform for engineering organisms, getting paid as companies outsource their biology R&D attempts rather than building internal labs., Pacific BiosciencesIt reads long stretches of DNA accurately, capturing what short-read sequencing misses, and benefits as long-read sequencing gains share of research budgets.16%
- These companies make the sensors, measurement gear and test equipment that engineers and scientists use to develop new electronics, materials and physical technologies. · Keysight TechnologiesIt makes the test and measurement instruments engineers use to develop new electronics, wireless systems and quantum hardware, getting paid on every attempt to advance physical technology., Teledyne TechnologiesIt makes the sensors, cameras and instruments that let scientists measure across scales from ocean floors to orbit, enabling observations that were impossible before., FortiveIt sells precision instruments and workflow software that industrial and healthcare operations depend on for measurement and control.13%
- These companies automate the handling, testing and management of samples and materials, getting paid as discovery and production volumes grow. · AzentaIt stores, moves and manages the biological samples that discovery work generates, so growing experiment volumes translate directly to growing business., TeradyneIt tests chips before they ship and sells collaborative robots that automate lab and factory work, two ways of getting paid as attempt volume and automation adoption grow.9%
- Cash9%