The 2014 Fierce 15 is about to debut in Boston

Every year around this time the FierceBiotech team--and these days that's pretty much Damian Garde and myself--finishes sorting through a big stack of nominations and more than a few reminders from past stories to come up with a list of the top 15 private biotechs which have earned some careful attention. We're now wrapping up our 12th annual Fierce 15 report, which we'll be rolling out at the BioPharm America meeting in Boston on Monday, just before we go live with the report on the website.

For the companies, it's a chance to reap some much-deserved praise for distinguishing themselves during a particularly interesting time in the industry.

As someone noted on Twitter recently, we no longer have just an open IPO window, we have a virtual IPO garage door swinging open. And a whole host of biotechs are streaming into the public markets. The recent wave of buyouts and IPOs over the past two years has helped create a new wave of startups, and more than a few are doing remarkable work. Some of those newly built biotechs appear on this year's list, along with some older organizations that have been making some real strides in the clinic.

It's an interesting group, and it says a lot about where we are as an industry right now.

I'd encourage you to join us in Boston if you can. And if you can't, then you can check in for the live event online, or wait for the report soon after on Monday morning. Either way, don't miss it. -- John Carroll, editor-in-chief (email | Twitter)