Hyperion Therapeutics

Hyperion has won its first FDA approval. The South San Francisco-based company grabbed the agency's nod for its drug Ravicti, a treatment for managing genetic conditions known as urea cyclic disorders.

After taking a beating in previous years, biotech has been hot sector on Wall Street this year. The Nasdaq Biotech Index has shot up 30% this year compared with 15% growth in the broader market. And the fact that this year's total number of biotech IPOs already matches that of 2011 indicates that there could be a growing appetite for these types of investments. But there's no indication that we're on the verge of, or will ever, return to the go-go years of the 1990s when biotechs more easily went public at lofty values. Here's the full report >>

South San Francisco-based Hyperion Therapeutics has joined the roster of biotechs which pushed ahead on an IPO only to fall short of its projected range. The orphan drug developer priced 5 million shares at $10 this morning, taking a haircut on the $11 to $13 range while raising $50 million.

Hyperion Therapeutics is hoping that the prospect of its first drug launch will lure investors in on a $57 million IPO.