It's all a matter of time

As everyone knows, the real issue in biotech investing is how long it takes to make any money. Two recent high-profile take-outs - Abbott's $7.3 billion stock buyout of Alza (AZA) announced last week, and Pharmacia & Upjohn's $729 million stock deal for Sugen (SUGN) - illustrate that in some cases, making money in biotech is just a matter of time.

AZA's calculation isn't as cut-and-dried. It was spun off as a dividend to shareholders of Syntex, now Roche Bioscience, and since has itself issued two stock dividends in the form of R&D spin-offs, and implemented two 2-for-1 splits...