Fair to middling

The BioCentury 100 gained 7 percent in the second quarter, but was outpaced by the Dow Jones Industrials and the NASDAQ Composite, which gained 12 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Notably, the laggard of the index crowd was the Amex Pharma Index, which fell 8 percent on the quarter and is down 4 percent on the year, after posting a pistol-hot 46 percent gain in 1998.

London shares fared well, with The BioCentury London Index up 14.5 percent...