ETFinnovators (< 20)

A New Index of Emerging Biotech & Pharma Companies

November 22, 2008 – Comments (1) | RELATED TICKERS: CVTX.DL , VPHM , OSIR

A New Index of Emerging Biotech & Pharma Companies

[web link to index stats + Top 40 Rated Cos.]

The accompanying table includes the Top 40 rated companies in the ETF Innovators [ETFI] Emerging Bio-Pharma Index, which includes U.S.-listed companies with market caps between $150M-$1.5B and factors in each companies approved products, late-stage clinical pipeline, trailing 52-week stock price performance, and market cap weighting to calculate a stock rating.

The index has performed much better than its peers over the past year for both the Top 40 Rated (-9%) and all 76 companies (-15%) – doing better than the Healthcare Sector SPDR (XLV) (-33.6%), iShares Nasdaq Biotech (IBB) (-26%), PowerShares Dynamic Pharma (PJP) (-24%), iShares Micro-Cap Index (IWC) (-50%), and iShares Russell 2000 Small-Caps (IWM) (-46.7%).

The index is structured to include innovative, research-driven biotech and pharmaceutical companies while excluding generic drugs [ETFI Healthcare Cost Containment Index], diagnostic products [ETFI Preventive Medicine], and over-the-counter products – which are already tracked in the respective indexes listed.

Also, check out the related post on 52 companies with market caps below $150M which includes potential buyout candidates based on several deals over the past year focused on out-of-favor, micro-cap cancer drug development companies.