Fourth quarter rally pushes biotech to strong finish

Biotech indexes rose as much as 33% in 2019 despite gaining little value overall in the year’s first nine months, with a series of clinical catalysts and strong appetite for M&A and licensing deals fueling the sector’s fourth-quarter performance.

The sector’s rise still failed to outpace that of the NASDAQ Composite Index, which rose 35% over the year on the strength of outsized gains by big tech companies. Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) swelled by 89% during the year, while Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) climbed 57% and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose 58%...