If any theme will mark the biotechnology industry in the coming year, says industry expert G. Steven Burrill, it likely will be this: The big will grow larger while the small struggle on.
Only this year, the struggle shouldn't be quite as exhausting.
That said, the industry should also find a friendlier investor climate, predicts Burrill, chief executive officer of San Francisco-based merchant bank Burrill & Co., a major biotechnology industry investor.
Already this year investors have been flocking back to the industry. Shares in many companies have surged in recent weeks as enthusiasm returns.
That is welcome news for several privately-held Maryland-based biotechnology outfits that yearn to raise money by going public.
Thwarted IPO plans
Among them are Osiris Therapeutics Inc. of Baltimore and GenVec Inc. of Rockville. Both ditched initial public offering plans when Wall Street turned sour on the industry in 1997-1998 and turned its attentions to the Internet and .com frenzy.
"I think we will see much more favorable capital markets for biotech this year," said Burrill. "There's been this love affair with the Internet. That will continue, but now some of the smart investors are looking to shift some of that money elsewhere."
Meanwhile, Burrill and other experts expect large biotechnology companies to continue growing this year.
While small and mid-size companies will largely be forced to continue being inventive with financing and other survival strategies in the year ahead, said Burrill, some will find windows for growth.
He expects a handful of companies to join the ranks of top-tier companies during 2000 as a result of new product approvals that have strong upside revenue potential, as well as renewed investor enthusiasm for smaller companies that have compelling technology.
To underscore the point, three Maryland companies in particular, MedImmune Inc., Human Genome Sciences Inc., and Celera Corp., all of Gaithersburg, have seen their fortunes -- and stock valuations -- soar as Wall Street and analysts have grown bullish on the companies.
Analysts expect continued exuberance for these companies in the year ahead because their products, pipelines and technologies hold the potential for tapping into huge markets.
A meteoric rise
MedImmune, which just a few years ago was struggling to find its bearings, has emerged as one of Wall Street's favorite biotechs as its stock price rose more than 200 percent, giving it a market capitalization of more than $8 billion.
