While attendees of the annual JPMorgan H&Q Healthcare Conference scurried through the hallways of the Westin St. Francis hotel here, transgenic mouse company Medarex Inc. let loose a box full of news, including a three-way deal against breast cancer that is the fulfillment of the original promise of genomics and proteomics to turn target discovery into product development, said Donald Drakeman, president and CEO.

After 2000's boom, which brought about a nearly hysterical financial ride for the industry, almost anything would have looked worse. Investors sniffing big profits down the road had jumped aboard the human genome-mapping bandwagon in 2000 with dot-commish glee, which sent valuations rocketing to heights that caused seasoned observers to shake their heads.