SAN FRANCISCO, April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- With the "biotech century" just beginning, the biotech bulls ran strong during the first two-and-a-half monthsof the year until the bears took over, aided by Clinton/Blair's unnecessarycomments on genomic patenting. During the first quarter of 2000, the industrysaw its largest private placement ever (Orchid BioSciences, $72 million); itssecond largest follow-on (Celera [CRA], $983 million); 9 biotech companiesgoing public (raising $1.1 billion -- almost twice the amount raised by IPOsin all of 1999); and a flurry of companies filing for IPOs.
The industry raised $12 billion in the first quarter of 2000, anincredible 420 percent increase from the same quarter last year($2.3 billion). "For an industry which raised only $5 billion in each year'96, '97 and '98, raising $12 billion this quarter is awesome," saidG. Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Company, a private merchant bank focusedsolely on the life sciences. SNIP.....
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Jim |
