Valuation Watch: Anti-Infectives a Rare Bright Spot for Last Crop of Biotech IPOs
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
Most of the 15 biotech IPOs in the US in 2007 have performed poorly on the public markets. There have been exceptions: Sirtris was acquired by GSK at a significant premium to its IPO price. And anti-infectives focused biotechs Pharmasset and Optimer have outclassed their peers as they have outperformed the market.
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Sirtris Satisfies GSK's M&A Appetite
Pathway-oriented platforms are rare, and dealmaking around them can be complicated: partner too early or for too little and you risk giving away the store. But Sirtris pulled it off, via M&A, when GSK tendered a whopping $720 million for it in April. The deal is another example of Pharma's interest in platform biotechs and its hunger for innovation. But the unique nature of Sirtris's platform -- broad, but around a single set of biological targets -- makes it more one-off than trend-setting.