Biotech sector cools, but local firms still envision IPOs.

Biotechnology companies inherited investor attention as the darlings of Wall Street when Internet-related tech companies were stripped of the title last year.

Between 70 and 90 health-care-related companies held initial public offerings in 2000, raising a total of more than $10 billion, according to reports from CommScan and Ernst & Young.

But, analysts say the biotech sector followed a bit too closely in their predecessors' footsteps. Companies that hurried to prepare to go to market shouldn't expect another banner year. Even so, several Puget Sound area biotech companies are biding their time and expect to make 2001 their year.

"Last year was a very unusual year (for biotech IPOs) and we're not likely to see another market like it anytime soon," said Andrew Heyward, an equity analyst who follows the biotech industry for Seattle-based Ragen MacKenzie. "If there's a normal year, this is more likely to be a normal year."

The first four health-care-related companies to go public or schedule an IPO this year have not generated much excitement from investors.

"The market's tough. These first couple of deals haven't done terribly well," said Chad Waite, a partner at Kirkland-based venture capital firm OVP Venture Partners. "The next one might. We'll see."

Among those may be the local companies that plan to go public this year -- including CombiMatrix Corp., Xcyte Therapies Inc. and Seattle Genetics Inc. All three companies announced their intention to go public by filing S-1 Registration …