Oh, Canada!

Although the US$120 million follow-on by QLT PhotoTherapeutics (TSE:QLT; QLTI) last week was robust in any market, in the current doldrums the number is more eye-popping. To put the QLT financing in context, Canadian biotech companies in aggregate raised US$303.1 million in all of 1998, including a US$125 million note offering by Biovail (BVF). And prior to the QLT offering, the total raised through all follow-ons this year was $194.7 million.

QLT upped its original filing by 500,000 shares, selling 2.75 million shares at US$43.63. The stock held up on the road show, falling US$2.25 (5 percent) since the original filing. QLT closed Friday at US$45.688, up $4.438 (11 percent) on the week...