Biotechnology uses living organisms to develop cutting-edge medical treatments and drugs to treat diseases and ease human suffering. The biotech sciences include genetics, genetic engineering, gene therapy, applied immunology, and bioengineering. Companies that break ground in these areas may profit handsomely. Those that do not may fiscally suffer.
The difficulty in predicting which path such companies will take makes the biotech industry notoriously more volatile than the broader stock market. Consequently, investors willing to accept more risk, for the promise of excessively higher returns, may wish to diversify their equity portfolio with a stable of biotech stocks.
The Biggest Biotech Stocks
The largest biotech companies by market capitalization currently listed on U.S. stock exchanges as of Jan. 11, 2021, are:
Company |
Ticker |
Specialization / Focus |
Market Capitalization ($Billions US) |
|
Novo Nordisk |
NVO |
Hemophilia, diabetes, obesity |
163 | |
Vertex Pharmaceuticals |
VRTX | Cystic fibrosis | 61.0 | |
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals |
REGN |
Cancer, allergic and inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases |
53.4 |
|
Moderna | MRNA | Infectious and rare diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disease | 46.4 | |
Alexion | ALXN | Severe and ultra-rare disorders | 34.2 | |
Royalty Pharma | RPRX | Biotechnology royalties | 32.1 | |
Seagen |
SGEN | Cancer |
32.0 |
|
Genmab A/S | GMAB | Antibody products for cancer patients |
27.3 | |
BioNTech | BNTX | Cancer immunotherapy | 26.2 | |
BeiGene |
BGNE | Cancer |
26.38 |
Source: Yahoo! Finance
Biotech ETFs
Biotech stocks can rise or fall, based on a host of company-specific factors, such as research announcements and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clinical trial results. Therefore investors may wish to diversify their biotech exposure by allocating portions of their portfolios to biotech mutual funds or biotech exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), iShares Biotechnology Index (IBB), Market Vectors Biotech ETF (BBH) and PowerShares Dynamic Biotech & Genome ETF (PBE).
The Bottom Line
Biotechnology is on the front line of medical research and technology. Investing in biotech companies can pay off handsomely, given the industry’s potential for high profits, but the high risks associated with these firms can produce substantial losses. An investor can mitigate that risk by investing in mutual funds or ETFs, in order to diversify their biotech holdings.