Since the outbreak of the crisis in 2008, big drug companies such as Roche Holding have been able to strike deals early and for less money with small biotech developers, which are struggling to fund themselves because traditional investors such as private equity, hedge funds and venture capitalists are shunning the sector. The trend has helped the big drug firms outperform the Stoxx Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology index.

Read the full articcle at the Wall Street Journal.