Deals
Biotech Stocks Are Enjoying Their Best-Ever Start to the Year
- Investor sentiment saw ‘turn’ after flurry of conference news
- Potential slowdown in drug reviews during shutdown poses risk
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A string of upbeat news around this week’s JPMorgan Healthcare Conference has helped propel biotechnology stocks to their best-ever start to the year.
The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, a bellwether of investor sentiment, has seen a 13 percent jump in 2019 after Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. kicked off the year with a record takeout of Celgene Corp. The nine-day winning streak is the longest in five years and the best start to a year since the index was created in 1993. The broader S&P 500 is up 3.6 percent year to date, while the S&P 500 Health Care Index is up just 1.6 percent.