A Tough Day For Some Biotech Bulls

Stumbles by several top biotech names are weighing on the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (ETF) IBB on Wednesday.

• Eli Lilly and Co LLY shares are down 11.4 percent following news that the company’s drug solanezumab came up short of its primary endpoint for treatment of mild Alzheimer dementia.
• Juno Therapeutics Inc JUNO shares are down 26.9 percent after the company announced the suspension of its JCAR015 Phase II ROCKET trial following two cases of cerebral edema in patients.
• Cellectar Biosciences Inc CLRB shares plummeted 29.6 percent on news of an $8 million public offering.

Despite the bad news, the IBB ETF has been surprisingly resilient on Wednesday, down just 0.2 percent in mid-day trading. Biotech stocks have witnessed a huge relief rally following Hillary Clinton’s loss on Election Day. The IBB is up 7 percent since November 8.

Clinton had made drug pricing a central issue of her platform. While drug companies aren’t yet certain of what they will be getting with Trump in the White House, they have at least dodged the Clinton bullet.

Despite the post-election pop, the IBB ETF has still significantly lagged the S&P 500 and other sector ETFs in the past year. While the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF and The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund XLI are both up double digits in the past year, the IBB remains down 15.8 percent.