February 13, 2005 -- A trend would be nice. A rubric that could be used to explain the day-to-day ups and downs of the market. But so far, the tea leaves of biotech stock trading haven’t given a clear signal of what to expect for biotech in 2005. For the week, the Centient Biotech 200™ lost 121 points, a drop of 3.8%. Without Friday’s 62 point gain—an almost 2% rise—the week’s performance would have seemed much more dire. For the year, the biotech index is lower by 6.3%, down by 217 points. Meanwhile, the IPO market effectively closed for biotech this week. After watching three companies slouch unimpressively into the public market during the previous week, two issues were supposed to come to market last week. Neither made it. We also discuss the stock slide at Inspire Pharma, following a failed Phase III trial, an increased loss at Compugen, a bit of a recovery at Myogen after the previous week’s disaster, and a 12% decline at IPO star performer, New River. More detail...
