Meet the Explainers

For the average stock investor, it’s hard to tell the sizzle from the steak.

And that’s especially true for biotech stocks.

The reason? The science the companies run on is little-understood by most people. And much of the action in the stock arises from salesmanship, not science.

A few public relations companies, however, specialize in translating the science so investors can get a better grasp of the opportunities. One such firm--Feinstein Kean Partners Inc., of Cambridge, Mass.--has just established its first West Coast office in Irvine.

Kelly Overly, 31, is director of the new office. While earning a doctorate in neuroscience from Harvard University, she said, “I was looking for something where the pace was a little bit faster than bench research.”

Now she employs her scientific training to coach biotechs on what to tell potential investors and when. One of her first projects here: Maret Corp., a tiny, privately held Newport Beach company that’s developing drugs to stimulate healing.

Maret has raised $4 million in venture capital, wants to land $8 million more, and likes working with a communications firm that understands its science, says Joseph Stemlerg, its chairman and chief executive.

“A person with a great science background and working as a journalist can get under the skin of scientists, speak their language and position their story so it’s understood by the lay public,” he says. “When you deal with somebody like that, it’s not a one-way street. It’s a two-way street.”

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Barbara Marsh covers health care for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7762 and at barbara.marsh@latimes.com.