Resurgent BioCryst at It Again

Updated from 3:56 p.m. EST

The power of promise is immense in the biotech universe, a place where no-name companies can be made celebrities overnight, has-been stocks can rebound as must-haves and laggards can be transformed into leaders in the blink of an eye.

As evidence, there's BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX Quote), a firm that traded north of $30 at the outset of the millennium but has gone as low as $3.68 in the last 52 weeks.

However, with the help of two big developments, BioCryst has turned from a straggler to a sprinter in just a few short months. The latest news involves a deal in which the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche agreed to pay BioCryst $30 million for the worldwide rights to an early-stage immune system drug. ...