Taiwan's post-bubble prognosis

More than a year after BioCentury chronicled investor enthusiasm for biotechs in Taiwan, the bubble has deflated. It's tempting to blame the downturn simply on retail investors who didn't get up to speed as quickly as hoped. But a closer look suggests that investor expectations were derailed by two late-stage clinical snafus, while a resurgence of interest in Taiwan's technology and IT plays has come at biotech's expense.

The meteoric rise of Taiwan biotech started in 2009. In May 2013, the trade group Taiwan Bio Industry Organization said the market cap for its biotech and pharma sector had grown by 520% over the prior four years...