The pains of corporate adolescence

As the biggest wheels of pharma head to Washington and biotech’s mid-size upstarts stoke bidding wars, spare a thought for the middle children of the drug industry.

Large-cap biotech companies — like Biogen, Regeneron, and Gilead Sciences — fared the worst in Cowen’s latest survey of investors. In the poll, which analysts dubbed the Sentimometer, 66 percent of respondents said biotech’s biggest firms are already fairly valued, while 10 percent said they’re too expensive. By contrast, the lion’s share of respondents thought small- and mid-size biotech’s were undervalued.

The results underline a nagging concern for the Biogens of the world. Everyone loves a growth story, and everyone loves the potential of an acquisition. But once you get to a certain size, it’s hard to keep growing, and it’s often harder to imagine someone paying top dollar in a buyout.