In assessing the sixteen biotechs making their public debuts over the past six months, investors clearly favor companies specializing in development, not discovery. What's more, investors especially prefer those development firms with late-stage products, lots of cash, and possibly even a sizable out-licensing deal.

Those venture capitalists with investments in the seven biotech companies that went public this year actually have reason for some degree of satisfaction: on average, they made pretty good money.

Every venture capitalist is anxious to use the latest IPO window to get his companies liquid. But some firms are more successful than others. At the top of the list there were few surprises--JP Morgan Partners and Alta Partners, with six biotech IPOs each, and MPM Capital with five. But the next group down contained some newer names.