Big Money Steers Clear of Biotech

NEW YORK -- This week's BIO CEO investment conference, held here over the past three days, was a rather dour affair, offering yet another illustration of the challenges facing small and mid-cap biotech stocks so far this year.

Institutional investors were hard to find at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, with many dedicated biotech buy-siders apparently deciding to sit this conference out. That's a problem, because BIO CEO is supposed to be the confab where Wall Street gets to meet the small and under-covered biotech companies that typically have trouble snagging invites to other, larger institutional investor conferences.

This year, there were a lot of biotech CEOs presenting their stories to half-empty rooms filled with industry consultants, glad-handers and insiders. Those folks with the means to buy stock in size just weren't there. ...