Among the biotechnology engines driving the Nasdaq's unparalleled growth the last few months is Aurora Biosciences Corp. (ABSC). In April 1999, its stock stood at $4.88; at press time, it was $84. That's greater than 800 percent growth. In June 1997, when Aurora went public, the price was $10. There have been no stock splits. Market capitalization is $1.5 billion.

One of Aurora's founders, Harry Styli, senior vice president of commercial development, attributes the explosive growth not only to his own company but to the industry: "The biotech sector is finally receiving the respect it deserves from the investment community." That excitement drove Aurora's price up $50 just from December to January.

As for the company itself, Styli says, "It’s solidly placed. We had a profitable year last year. We’re well-positioned to take advantage of the post-genomics revolution. We’re working with the top pharmaceutical companies in the world."

Those companies include Pfizer, Merck & Co., Warner-Lambert Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly and Co. Aurora specializes in designing, developing and selling the reporter gene systems used in drug discovery technology. Aurora's systems work far faster than traditional molecular biotechnology approaches.

Styli, like new CEO Stuart J. M. Collinson, previously worked for Glaxo Wellcome in the United Kingdom. Aurora's scientific founders, Roger Tsien and Charles Zuker, both UCSD professors, remain with the company, which was incorporated in California in 1995 and then in Delaware in 1996.

Before last year, the company was not profitable, but recent sales growth has pushed revenue up 67 percent. The company now has a work force of 192 at its Torreyana Road location — just down the road from San Diego’s original biosciences enterprise, the Salk Institute.

— Terence J. Burke