INTRODUCTION
Developed in 1999 and jointly managed by S&P Dow Jones Indices and MSCI, the Global Industry Classification Standard® (GICS® ) assigns companies to a single classification at the sub-industry level according to its principal business activity using quantitative and qualitative factors, including revenues, earnings, and market perception. The sub-industry is the most specific level of the four-tiered, hierarchical industry classification system that includes 11 sectors, 24 industry groups, 69 industries, and 158 sub-industries.
The companies primarily engaged in the research, development, manufacturing, or marketing of products based on genetic analysis and genetic engineering are classified in the Biotechnology sub-industry, the only sub-industry in the Biotechnology industry. It includes companies primarily engaged in the research, development, manufacturing and/or marketing of products based on genetic analysis and genetic engineering. Included are those specializing in protein-based therapeutics to treat human diseases and excluded are companies manufacturing products using biotechnology without a health care application.
COMPOSITIONAs of Sept. 28, 2018, there are 124 companies with a total float-adjusted market capitalization of USD 879,614.95 million in the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index. The largest company in the index is AbbVie Inc (ABBV), with a float-adjusted market cap of USD 143,219.94 million. The index is modified equal-weighted, and the largest company weight in the index is ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc (ACAD), at 1.9%. Approximately 11.8% of the index weight is from large-cap stocks in the S&P 500®, with 2.6% from the S&P MidCap 400® and 11.0% from the S&P SmallCap 600®. The mean market cap is USD 7,092.90 million, the median market cap is USD 1.299.83 million, and the minimum market cap is USD 323.17 million. Nearly 75% of the index weight is considered micro cap and therefore is not in the S&P Composite 1500®, but is in the S&P Total Market Index (TMI). The top 10 holdings sum to 14.8% of the S&P Biotechnology Select Industry Index (see Exhibit 1).
