biotechnologyThe Biotechnology industry fell after the markets opened Wednesday, June 18, 2008. However with the fall of giant companies, some small cap ones seem to have outperformed the industry. Even if it's just for a day.

Among those few stocks that rose rather significantly, we find Proteo Inc. (OTCBB: PTEO), Aeterna Zentaris, Inc. (Nasdaq: AEZS) and Repligen Corp. (Nasdaq: RGEN).

Proteo Inc. (OTCBB: PTEO, PTEO message board) , a development stage company, engaged in the development and manufacture, of pharmaceutical products, opened 21.6% higher than its previous close, once again coming close to its 52 week high of $3. It is interesting since the company didn't announce any news lately.

Their most recent press release, issued on June 11, 2008, states the company had placed 600,000 shares of their preferred stock with an institutional investor in Switzerland. That should result in proceeds to Proteo of $3.6 million which will be used to enhance their drug development program. However, that news at the time of announcement was followed by a negative price movement.

Aeterna Zentaris, Inc. (Nasdaq: AEZS) is a good example of how volatile penny stocks can be. The share price rose nearly 9% to $1.35 for no apparent reason, an hour after the market opened. The company has however been on a downtrend for nearly a month. Also the overall stock behavior is rather controversial so we wouldn't bet on recovery here either.

Aeterna had their moments in mid May, when the company announced they began dosing in the safety study of its Phase 3 program with cetrorelix, Aeterna's flagship product, in benign prostatic hyperplasia. News however didn't convince investors for long and the share price dropped half a month after the announcement.

The only other news related to the company was that analysts reduced their price target to $2.65. The company is still far from reaching such value, so we might be seeing more of such announcements in the near future.

Repligen Corp. (Nasdaq: RGEN) hit the day's high of $5.03 twice after the market opened. This was nearly 6% more than its previous close. The stock might be up for a reason, as reports on stock buyback program have been showing up.

It appears the company will be buying back 1.25 million shares of its common stock. This is especially good news for investors, as it indicates the company is confident about their current financial position and future perspectives.

The company has also recently posted their financial data for the 4th quarter of fiscal 2008, indicating a net loss from operations. On the yearly basis however, the company has shifted to profitability, which might support the current confidence in their financial condition.