In the absence of an actual biotech buyout to report, speculation will have to do. Bloomberg put the spotlight on Clovis Oncology ($CLVS), which reportedly tried to sell itself a couple of years ago--a mention of which usually causes Clovis CEO Patrick Mahaffy's eyes to start rolling. Why Clovis? Two breakthrough drug designations and a high-profile role in cancer drug development--the industry's sweet spot for deals--didn't hurt its chances. And after AbbVie ($ABBV) agreed to pay a jaw-dropping $21 billion for Pharmacyclics, the sky's the limit in terms of potential premiums. One ambitious analyst at Goldman put a prospective buyout price for the Boulder, CO-based biotech at $179 a share, twice what it's been trading for. Report