Five methods are commonly used to value companies #8211; market capitalisation, asset valuation, comparable market multiples, comparable transactions and discounted cash flow (or DCF). The one used depends on the development stage of the company and its pipeline, but whichever approach is chosen, one key principal should drive valuations: find the highest value of all assets, tangible or intangible. Although many biotechs have already accessed the financial markets through the stock exchanges, so there is information available on market capitalisation and asset values, the majority of biotechs are privately held, so net assets and shares are rarely used as a means of valuation; rather, for the most biotechs, the comparable transactions (benchmarking) and DCF approaches are used. This features analyses the strengths and weaknesses of these two methods, looks at the significance (and value) of development options in valuation and at the utility of cash to biotechs at various stages of their development.