Sinclair Pharma was the only health care firm to have floated in Europe in 2003; investors liked its very low risk model: take little development risk then partner for marketing. Yet in taking the specialty model to its extreme, Sinclair's challenge will be to secure enough valuable products to keep investors interested, particularly if European markets warm up and begin to embrace a new, stronger generation of R&D focused firms.
Sinclair IS Pharma PLC is doing something right. Its £9 million ($15 million) December 2003 IPO on London's Alternative Investment Market ended a year long drought in European health care IPOs, and its shares are still trading at nearly 30% above the offering price [See Deal].
The secret: playing the same risk-lowering trick that all specialty firms and increasing numbers of traditional biotechs are playing, but...