BioCentury
ARTICLE | Top Story

Biotech updraft

September 27, 2001 7:00 AM UTC

Wall Street revisited the biotech sector on Thursday, as investors began to view the space as oversold and started to recognize the defensive nature of the industry during a recession. The BioCentury 100 added 4.6% on a day when the NASDAQ - usually biotech's kissing cousin from a momentum standpoint - fell 0.2%. Blue chips performed well, as the Dow Jones Industrials advanced 1.3%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.1%.

Investors particularly liked the antibody and supply groups. On the antibody front, Abgenix (ABGX) led the charge, gaining $3.76 (18%) to $24.26 on 2.1 million shares. Protein Design Labs (PDLI) advanced $4.59 (11%) to $46.29 on 3.1 million shares, while Medarex (MEDX) gained $1.39 (11%) to $14.39 on 3.6 million shares. Dual-listed Cambridge Antibody moved up $1.70 to $21 on 5,600 shares in NASDAQ trading -- its shares had traded up 64p to 1360p on 310,452 shares in London Stock Exchange trading on Thursday. ...