Looking for longer coat tails

Last week provided more than a cupful of hope for an industry looking for signs of financial life and validation, starting with Warner-Lambert's $2.1 billion takeout of Agouron (AGPH), followed by a healthy serving of consensus-busting profits from top tier companies, and topped off with a sprinkling of financing activity. The week's news events were enough to drive the BioCentury 100 up 4 percent.

At the least, Street-watchers figure the AGPH takeout will lend credence to the biotechnology model, even if the deal itself fails to trigger a rash of financings or buyouts...