2016 was a rough year for the medical sector especially biotech stocks with the NASDAQ Biotechnology index declining 19.1% during the year while the NYSE ARCA Pharmaceutical Index was down 9.7%. The pharma/biotech sector faced several headwinds last year including slow product launches, fewer drug approvals, pipeline setbacks and increasing competition including the presence of biosimilars. And of course, there was the political rhetoric about drug pricing that weighed on the sector for almost the whole of 2016. Although there is not much clarity right now about the steps that will be taken to address the drug pricing issue, it is clear that drug pricing will remain in focus in 2017 as well.
