Biotech stocks in holding pattern for August, says Burrill report

For the second straight month, the Burrill Biotech Select Index remained flat, despite the fact that most industrial sectors were on the upswing in the wake of the government releasing positive Gross Domestic Product growth numbers for the second quarter, which signaled a stronger economy. The blue-chip Dow Jones average closed the month up 1.75% and the Nasdaq rose even more to close up 4.4%.

"Investors still remain in a holding pattern as far as biotech is concerned," said Steven Burrill, chief executive of Burrill & Co, a San Francisco-based global life sciences company whose principal activities are in venture capital, merchant banking and media.

"Hardly any groundswell emerged from the high-profile 16th International AIDS Conference held in Toronto [Canada] this month. While a lot of progress has been made in AIDS treatment thanks to biotech innovation, there remains a sense of impatience with why more isn't being done to stem the incidence of new infections, estimated to be about four million cases last year," he noted.