2007 Financial Markets Preview: M&A upside

Last year was a banner year for financing in the biotech sector. A total of $29.6 billion was raised worldwide, including $23.9 billion in the public space. But that doesn't mean investors will be fatigued going into 2007, because many had big returns from the M&A frenzy that cashed out companies from their portfolios.

Indeed, the 2006 surge in biotech M&A meant even more money was returned to public and private shareholders via takeouts - about $30 billion - than was raised in the private and public capital markets combined. As a result, many public equity funds, while not giving out specific performance numbers, are chalking up 2006 as a strong year...