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COPYRIGHT 2000 The Miami Herald
Byline: Harriet Johnson Brackey
Apr. 24--The biotech boom has gone bust since early March, but shares in Aphton Corp., a small Miami member of the group, are way ahead of the crowd.
Even after losing and regaining big chunks of its share price in the last two weeks, the company remains up for the year by more than 80 percent. That whallops the Nasdaq biotech index which so far has nudged itself up less then 0.5 percent. And you can only wish as well for other small stocks. The Russell 2000 index is down 4.5 percent since Jan. 1.
But before you start bragging to your brother-in-law that you've found the stock that can withstand the thundering heard, you need to know this: Aphton's story points out the difficulties of getting into a hot-button sector through a small stock.
This isn't a glamorous issue. It isn't widely followed on Wall Street. Investing in it can be risky. It's volatile. And those who got in early, when Aphton went public nine years ago this month, have had to be more than merely patient.
Yet those who are in the company now -- it was founded 18 years ago in Northern in California by Chairman Philip Gevas and a small group of academic medical researchers...
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