Bill Miller: The next Apple is a biotech stock

Published Wed, Jul 15 20151:57 PM EDT

In an exclusive interview for CNBC Pro subscribers Wednesday, famed investor Bill Miller predicted that the next Apple of the world will come from the biotech space. [Full video below] "[We] are really at the cusp of another revolution in overall medicine and the way in which health care is handled," said Miller. The investor, whose fund posted 34 percent annual returns over the past three years and is up 12 percent in 2015, believes the industry with the biggest upside potential is synthetic biology. "Synthetic biology is to living things, what software is to machines," explained Miller, pointing to the science that relates to genetic engineering through the combination of biotech, molecular biology, biophysics and other disciplines. Just as machines get instructions from software programs, says Miller, humans are learning to manipulate DNA, the instruction set for people, animals and other living organisms. Within synthetic biology, Miller says scientists are making strides in immuno-oncology, a study of how the immune system fights diseases such as cancer. "It's using the body to heal the body," added Miller paraphrasing a comment made by NBC Nightly News journalist Tom Brokaw. According to Miller, this area could redefine science for the next generation, with a large number of biotech firms already invested in the space and many others in line to become public. Of the group, Miller believes the best play is Intrexon . Source: FactSet "We believe Intrexon is by far the leader in the broad biosynthetic field," said Miller, who made the stock his biggest holding in the fund he manages, according to Morningstar data. Shares of the biotechnology firm are up 97 percent this year and 134 percent in the past 12 months. One of the main advantages to Intrexon, according to Miller, is the company's involvement in areas such as energy, health care, consumer and environmental, all of which synthetic biology can touch. The biotech firm, for instance, had the first genetically modified apple that doesn't turn brown, and has been approved by the FDA and USDA. Another catalyst for the stock to move higher, according to Miller, is the company's CEO Michael Neidorff, who's made "billions of dollars" for investors in previous health-care enterprises. In the long term, Miller believes the company could be in the ranks of Apple, the world's largest technology by market cap. Another of his top picks is Ziopharm Onchology , which licenses Intrexon's technology and is making advances in cancer therapies. Shares of ticker ZIOP are up 140 percent this year and 264 percent in the past 12 months.

Bill Miller at Delivering Alpha 2015 in New York.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

In an exclusive interview for CNBC Pro subscribers Wednesday, famed investor Bill Miller predicted that the next Apple of the world will come from the biotech space.

[Full video below]

"[We] are really at the cusp of another revolution in overall medicine and the way in which health care is handled," said Miller.

The investor, whose fund posted 34 percent annual returns over the past three years and is up 12 percent in 2015, believes the industry with the biggest upside potential is synthetic biology.