Esperion, Retrophin and ZS Pharma are all holdings in BBP with the first two stocks combining for 5.7% of the ETF’s weight. The BioShares Biotechnology Products Index, the benchmark for BBP, is tilted more toward large-caps than BBC’s index. BBC’s benchmark, the BioShares Biotechnology Clinical Trials Index, holds companies with a lead drug candidate in a Phase 1, Phase 2 or Phase 3 trial.
Investors’ intense focus on cancer therapies has been a catalyst for biotech ETFs and that focus is expected to intensify in the near-term.
“The two biggest conferences in cancer are upcoming with a ton of newsflow expected – AACR conference in Philadelphia kicks of this weekend, and ASCO in Chicago is at the end of May. Big names expecting newsflow are PBYI, JUNO, KITE, CLLS, CLVS, AGIO, CELG, ZIOP. These cancer conferences generate broad news coverage, both in the medical/scientific company and increasingly in the investment/stock community. Many new innovative strategies including CAR-T, TIL, checkpoint inhibitors and bispecific antibodies,” said Yook.
Cancer is the largest sector of biotech, and is 38% of the BBC universe and 28% of the BBP universe, according to the portfolio manager.
BioShares Biotechnology Products Fund
