Reverse splits play into the hands of the shorts. Those who are not allowed to short low-priced stocks can then jump in. Why else do you think the bashers elsewhere were constantly crying for one?

R/S sure didn't help AVXL any. But it helped the manipulators run it up, and take it down.

Also: despite all the IPO hype and the very occasional big success stories, the long-suffering TBRA IPO buyers who held through this only to just about break even are a more typical story. In fact I think most biotech and small tech IPO's are profitable for a very short window, and then tank. Haven't done the research on this -- this is merely observational from the small number I've watched.