Pass the biotech paper . . . and the cranberries

With Thanksgiving rapidly approaching in the U.S., investors appear to have a healthy appetite for biotech paper. Last week, investors gobbled up $245.5 million in four underwritten biotech offerings. Three of the deals were follow-ons - ImClone (IMCL, $88 million), Alexion (ALXN, $42 million) and Progenics (PGNX, $38 million), all of which closed on Friday. It's clear that the follow-on market is heating up: 13 follow-on deals have priced so far in the fourth quarter, raising a total of $733.7 million (see chart); only 15 such deals had closed in the first three quarters of the year.

Last week's other deal was an IPO, with combinatorial chemistry play Symyx (SMMX) raising $77.5 million, exceeding its own expectations of $69 million when it filed the deal on Sept. 21...