Ebb & Flow

This Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of the biotech meltdown prompted by the Clinton-Blair comments about the patentability of genetic information. Coincidentally, the NASDAQ Composite also began its precipitous slide that month, and if it's any comfort to biotech players, NASDAQ has fared worse. The BioCentury 100 has shed 47 percent of its value in the ensuing year versus a 59 percent decline in the NASDAQ (see "Not Quite in the Cellar" & "One Year On").

Biotech was helped by its big bounce in the June-November period. But since then it has been closing the gap: the BC100 is down 23 percent this year, compared to a 17 percent decline by NASDAQ. The BioCentury London index is down 30 percent in the past 12 months, with 3 percent lost so far this year...