Disclaimer
Disclosure – Non-Independent Marketing Communication
This is a non-independent marketing communication commissioned by International Biotechnology Trust. The report has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and is not subject to any prohibition on the dealing ahead of the dissemination of investment research.
International Biotechnology Trust (IBT) announced its interim results on Monday 27 April, in which it reported a NAV total return of 3.6% over the six months to 29 February 2020 (sterling-adjusted, net of fees with dividends reinvested). However, with the period largely predating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on both global stock markets and the biotechnology sector, the company warned that the picture has changed rapidly in the two months since.
The biotechnology sector has proved to be relatively resilient to the market impact of COVID-19. In fact, the Nasdaq Biotech Index has regained the ground it lost during February and March and IBT’s NAV reached an all-time high on Friday 24th April. The strong underlying fundamentals of the sector and the visibility of future earnings are underpinning this performance, as well as its role in developing treatments and vaccines for COVID-19. IBT anticipated the market response to the virus by reducing its gearing and exposure to smaller companies with financing needs early in 2020. One of its larger portfolio companies, Gilead, which already has a solid HIV franchise, has been at the forefront in developing a potential anti-viral treatment.
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