What I've noticed about IPOs in the biotech sector is that they are very high-quality companies. For example, some of the genomic companies have actual products and are in their later stages of clinical trials, like Phase 2 and Phase 3. In the past, many of the IPOs would have been in the research and development stages. There still are research and development companies, but their product lines are more mature, a little older. And as for genomic companies, there will be a lot more of them because everybody wants to jump on the bandwagon and hopes to decode human genomes and their functions.
Genomics is the hottest topic in the biotech industry right now.
Genomics is the area that studies DNA, the material that makes us what we are. Our DNA contains more than 100 million genes, which direct all aspects of our bodies. They hope to begin to understand how particular genes operate to keep us functioning normally or abnormally during a disease state, such as cancer or heart disease. Identifying a particular gene that is involved in breast cancer, for example, could lead to better diagnosis or a better treatment regime. Biotech companies involved in genomics are trying to develop tools or models to help us decipher the wealth of information gathered from genomics.