Axovant: Merits of the molecule

The $315 million IPO by Axovant Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:AXON) prompted media rumblings that biotech investors finally have abandoned rational thinking because the year-old biotech with a single asset for symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease doubled in its first trading day and garnered a valuation north of $2 billion.

Axovant, which filed in May to raise up to $172.5 million, ended up with one of the largest-ever IPOs in biotech. The shares priced at $15 and jumped to $29.90 in the first day of trading Thursday. The stock slipped $7.59 (25%) to $22.31 on Friday and ended the week up $7.32 (49%) with a market cap of $2.1 billion...