BioCentury
ARTICLE | Finance

Ebb & Flow

March 7, 2005 8:00 AM UTC

Aspreva's IPO on Thursday evening and subsequent stock pop on Friday suggest that many investors are willing to treat the suspension of multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri as a company-specific event. Indeed, the IPO was a perfect illustration of the state of the window: valuation continues to be the main issue and buysiders are willing to look at interesting stories.

Thus while investors were quick to shave $16.9 billion off of the combined market caps of Biogen Idec (BIIB) and Elan (ELN) last Monday after they suspended sales and trials of Tysabri after the death of one of two cases of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), the blowup did not put a clamp on the financing window. Last week saw three IPOs, a follow-on, a big PIPE, and a pair of large venture rounds. ...