Small cap biotech stocks were down 43 per cent on last year, registering the worst annual performance since 2001, according to the latest BioForum report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Life science stocks - excluding the big three of CSL, Resmed and Cochlear - fell 9.8 per cent in the final quarter of the 2008 financial year, PwC reports.

Only the outstanding performance of CSL kept the whole sector looking vaguely healthy, with even Resmed and Cochlear down 25 to 30 per cent for the year.

CSL had a very strong year, up 21 per cent. PwC notes that CSL's market capitalisation as a proportion of the entire life science index increased from 85 per cent to 91 per cent.

Capital raisings were relatively strong in the first half but the second half saw significant price discounts, the report finds.

New listings raised $212 million - the second highest in the past five years - but the amount was down on the previous year. Only one company, HPV diagnostic developer Genera Biosystems, listed in the final quarter.

Only $56 million was raised through secondary financing in the quarter, less than a fifth in comparison to the same quarter last year.