Whilst this article is not directly related to IMU it does make...

Whilst this article is not directly related to IMU it does make me feel that we are in the right place at the right time

Biotech index rises above $100 mark for first time in two years

After a roller coaster of a two-year ride, the biotech market’s key stock index, the $XBI, surpassed the $100 mark on Tuesday, buoying investor optimism and providing a moment of relief for those with money in the drug development industry.

The 5.7% rise on Tuesday adds to a months long pickup from the October doldrums and an explosive data readout from Viking Therapeutics that led to a more than doubling of the biotech’s share price as its obesity drug enters Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk’s backyard.

The index, known formally as the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF, closed Tuesday at $102.89. Headed into the new year, the industry was on an upward trajectory after signals of upcoming interest rate cuts and a flurry of M&A activity in the fourth quarter. In early January, the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference added to the hope of brighter days to come, but industry insiders had cautioned at the time that drug developers wouldn’t immediately escape from the long slog. It would take time, and worries about the timing of potential interest rate cuts started to cause some concern in February.

At the end of last week, the biotech’s total enterprise value across the world was up 21.5% so far this year, per a Sunday report from the investment bank Stifel. Tim Opler, a managing director at Stifel, wrote that a “minority feel that the XBI has a long way to go still — perhaps to 120 or above this year.”“The rally that started four months ago continued last week but not quite at the same pace as before. The biotech market has been up 14 of the last 16 weeks,” Opler wrote in the Feb. 25 note. “The market is up 66% from its October nadir. It’s been quite a run.”