The 10 Biotech IPOs of 2010

Looking over the top 10 biotech IPOs of 2010, the best performer doesn't actually have a pipeline of therapeutics. But for the year of 2011, investors will have their biotech dreams set on best products.

While 2010 proved to be a tough year for biotech IPOs, at least the window was slightly opened. Back in 2009, you had as much chance of making it to the moon and back as you did flying a new life sciences offering on Wall Street.

It's no surprise in looking over the top 10 biotech IPOs of 2010 that the best performer doesn't actually have a pipeline of therapeutics. Instead, Pacific Biosciences is advancing a new set of tools for developers to study their prospects, and in so doing will help advance a genomic sequencing revolution that is clearly on the horizon. After the company helped create market excitement for that vision, investors bought in.

That excitement, though, is all too clearly absent from the rest of the field. Even Ironwood, a Boston biotech with a solid management team headed by a passionate CEO in Peter Hecht and a clear path to an FDA app later this year, struggled to go public and keep its price up.