The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index and Standard & Poor's Health Care Index both posted their worst opening day of trading in years on Monday, despite the added attention the sector got with the start of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.
Nasdaq fell 3.4 percent on Monday, its worst day of trading during the conference since 2001. The S&P index fell 1.2 percent, its worst since 2009, according to published reports.
Everyone from small biotechs to large drug makers saw their stocks plunged.
Bluebird Bio, which is developing cancer treatments and drug therapies, saw its stock fall 19 percent. The biotech firm Spark Therapeutics -- which is working on promising treatments for certain forms of blindness -- fell 12 percent. Biomarin's shares had been down 11 percent since the start of the year, but some analysts surmised the damage was that bad just during the conference's first day.
Though there were few concrete reasons for the slump, a few drops were tied to news that disappointed investors. Drug and health products distributor McKesson said it would be hampered by a slowdown in the growth of generic drug prices; its stock dipped 10 percent. Celgene Corp. named a new CEO last year and reported disappointing fourth-quarter numbers, and its stock responded, dropping 5.5 percent.
Still, not all the news was bad. Medical device company Alere, based in Massachusetts, saw an 8 percent spike in its shares, and the firm's market value increased by $270 million, raising its total value to $3.4 billion. However, shares of the company are still down by 30 percent since August.
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