Why These Pharma ETFs Rallied On Thursday
Zacks Investment Research | Feb 28, 2019 08:00PM ET
Pharma ETFs have seen solid trading on Feb 28 as positive drug data and events in the cannabis industry were cheered by investors. Despite the ongoing controversy related to high drug prices, fundamentals appear to be strong for the space. The merger and acquisition backdrop has also been solid in the industry (read: Bristol-Myers to Acquire Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG): Healthcare ETFs in Focus ).
Arcadia Eyes Cannabis Industry
Arcadia Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:RKDA) — which normally develops food ingredients from wheat and soybeans — saw its shares jump 49% on Feb 28 after it announced plans to Top ETF Stories of February ).
This change has paved the way for the formation of Arcadia Specialty Genomics, which now seeks to tap the rising demand in the hot marijuana space.
Horizon Pharma’s Positive Trial of Eye Disease Treatment
Horizon Pharma Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:HZNP) saw around a 33% jump on Feb 28 as it announced positive results in a late-stage trial of a treatment for active thyroid eye disease, or TED, per the source . The trial successfully met the secondary endpoints and realized a consistent safety profile with the phase 2 study. The company is looking to submit a biologics license application to the FDA in mid-2019.
TG Therapeutics Comes Up With Positive Umbralisib Data
This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) biopharmaceutical company (NASDAQ:TGTX) saw its shares jump 31% on Feb 28, thanks to positive results from a Phase 2b clinical trial, UNITY-NHL, evaluating umbralisib in patients with treatment-resistant non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Preliminary data will be presented at AACR on Apr 1 .
Decent Earnings Season
The space has been coming up with decent corporate results. Per the A Look at Pharma ETFs Post Q4 Results ).
ETFs in Focus
Below we highlight a few top-ranked ETFs that added more than 1% on Feb 28 and have been trading around a one-month high.
First Trust Nasdaq Pharmaceuticals ETF FTXH — Up 2.1% on Feb 28
SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:XPH) ETF (HN:XPH) — Up 2.0% on Feb 28
iShares US Pharmaceuticals ETF IHE — Up 1.3% on Feb 28
Invesco Dynamic Pharmaceuticals ETF (WA:PJP) — Up 1.2% on Feb 28
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