And so it begins. I told you on Tuesday we had a trio of great-looking small cap stocks to unveil; the first one comes today, from the biotech arena. I can boil this idea down to two numbers, and one harsh reality. Let's do the harsh reality first. This company's in-development cholesterol drug appears more effective than Pfizer's Lipitor and AstraZeneca's Crestor do. In fact, Crestor and Lipitor could be considered disappointments by many standards, even though - somehow - they're dominating the cholesterol race.... for now. Did that get your attention? It sure got mine, knowing that a couple of billion-dollar franchises owned by Pfizer and AstraZeneca (not to mention Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Merck, and others) are about to be one-upped by better technology. Yet, these franchise owners don't even realize it. As Homer Simpson would say, 'Doh!' And the two numbers? $28 million: The size of the company. $41 billion: The size of the revenue opportunity this company is diving into... well-armed. Point being, a very large stake in this company could be had with a very small investment, yet give you exposure to infinitely more in sales potential. Statins Stink! The name of the company is AtheroNova Inc. (OTC:AHRO). I'm willing to bet many of you hadn't heard of it until just now. After I tell you what I'm about to tell you though, you won't forget it anytime soon; you may well want to become an owner. Here's the deal. All those cholesterol drugs like Zocor, Pravachol, Lipitor, Crestor, and other statins? Yeah, well, they don't exactly work as described. Oh, some of them work somewhat to reduce cholesterol (while some don't). As it turns out though, even the ones that halfway work don't actually reduce a patient's chances of heart attack or even death. How'd that happen? After all, these drugs were God-sends for so many people with cardiovascular disease just a few years ago. As it turns out, cholesterol isn't exactly the health risk. The problem is plaque-covered artery walls, or atherosclerosis for you sticklers. I don't want this to become a science lecture, but we do need to go through a super-short explanation just so you can fully appreciate the opportunity with AHRO. Statins like Crestor and Lipitor can clean the blood by attacking 'bad' cholesterol, but they still don't help boost 'good' cholesterol, which more and more every day seems to be the bigger element of better heart health. More specifically, statins don't treat plaque-hardened arteries - a condition that was largely thought untreatable until recently. It's an important distinction to make simply because it's atherosclerosis rather than cholesterol itself that's causing problems like strokes, diabetes, aneurysms, kidney disease, and even heart attacks. Statins do one thing well though... they cause side effects for many users, including muscle aches, memory impairment, nerve injuries, liver injury, and even death. Yeah, you're reading what you think you're reading - those big-name pharmaceutical companies are barking up the wrong tree, at least from a life-saving perspective. Not a lot of benefit, but more than too much downside. What's the point? That's where AtheroNova's AHRO-001 comes in. It's not a statin, and though I'm sure it addresses high cholesterol, that's not even the point of the drug. This bile salt is specifically designed to melt away the plaque covering arteries, improving blood flow, and negating much of the risk associated with CAD.... risks like heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and all those other miseries I mentioned above. In other words, AHRO-001 attacks the problem rather than just the symptom. (What a novel idea, huh?) Oh, and no meaningful side effects have been observed yet. You can see why we wanted to introduce this name to you; it's one of those cases where brains are ready beat brawn. Big pharma looks like it's under attack - in a losing battle - from smarter and more nimble (and more effective) small pharma. If you wanted to end your due diligence on AHRO right there, you probably could. A bunch of the guys at the site have already picked up on this opportunity though, so I'll direct you to some of their 'Best of AtheroNova Inc.' stuff. The official SCN AtheroNova Report and Overview (with the always-handy printable PDF version). David Versus Goliath: How AtheroNova is Whipping Bigger Names in the Same Race A Bird's Eye View of the Major Heart Disease Players AtheroNova Meets with FDA, Takes on Leading Killer: Heart Disease (This is the one that details the funding commitment for AHRO-001 trials.) As always, you can find all of these commentaries and more at the AHRO StockHQ page. That's also where you can post your own thoughts and opinions, as well as leave feedback about anyone else's stuff. The Last Word My whole point was and is to look at AtheroNova Inc. We see a dozen biotech stocks every week, and don't even bother mentioning the bulk of 'em. For us to make one a Featured Stock should send a clear message there's something worth exploring here. That's it. And on a semi-related note, I've said it before and I'll say it again... the ideal time to get into plain-old solid ideas is when nobody else is thinking about them, and the stock's tame as a result. Why fight for shares later at a ridiculous price when one can ease in now at a great entry level? Every window closes eventually. Personal note: AHRO strikes me as less of a trading stock and more like a name you get into and leave alone for a while. I dunno... it just feels like the underlying technology is a long-term story you want to follow as a shareholder.