Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy Index Conducts Semi-Annual

LENEXA, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Loncar Investments, LLC today announced the result of the semi-annual rebalance and reconstitution of the Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy Index, a group of the top 30 companies developing cancer immunotherapy treatments and discovering new ways to use the body’s immune system to fight cancer.

“The immunotherapy field is just now gathering momentum and we are optimistic the best is yet to come. The number of FDA approvals for the types of immunotherapy drugs tracked by the index has doubled since May of last year”

The Committee has added Dynavax Technologies (Nasdaq: DVAX), Jounce Therapeutics (Nasdaq: JNCE) and Syndax Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SNDX) to the index.

These additions replace Compugen (Nasdaq: CGEN), NewLink Genetics (Nasdaq: NLNK) and Sorrento Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SRNE).

“The immunotherapy field is just now gathering momentum and we are optimistic the best is yet to come. The number of FDA approvals for the types of immunotherapy drugs tracked by the index has doubled since May of last year,” said Brad Loncar, Chairman of the index committee. “Innovative companies like the three we have added today are working on the next wave of immunotherapy treatments that we hope will result in even better outcomes for more patients.”

Effective this week, all index holdings have been rebalanced to hold equal weight. The index is rebalanced and reconstituted semi-annually. The next rebalance will occur on December 19, 2017.

Loncar Investments is an official partner of the Cancer Research Institute, the world’s only nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to harnessing the immune system’s power to conquer all cancers. June is Cancer Immunotherapy Month and we are especially thankful at this time of year for CRI’s distinguished record of supporting immunotherapy. To learn about how to give to CRI, please visit here.

Why immunotherapy: Cancer immunotherapy has become an important sector in the biotechnology space and is changing the way many cancers are treated. While traditional medicines like chemotherapies often give cancer a broad punch, the benefit of using immunotherapy is derived from the immune system’s dynamic nature and the way it can more precisely be tailored to fight a patient’s disease. Some immunotherapies have already exhibited uncommon results in clinical trials including partial and complete responses in late stage cancer patients.

About the index: The Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy Index is an equal-weighted index of 30 top immunotherapy companies rebalanced and reconstituted on a semi-annual basis. Price and return data are independently calculated on a daily basis by Indxx, LLC. This is a sector index similar to Technology sector indices (Internet, Cyber Security, Cloud Computing, etc.). Sector indices allow investors to track interest areas more precisely than broad indices. Additional information can be found at the index’s dedicated website, www.LoncarIndex.com.

Index provider: Loncar Investments, LLC is committed to making the biotechnology space more approachable to a wider range of investors. The company is principally owned by biotech investor and analyst Brad Loncar. Mr. Loncar manages a biotech-focused family portfolio from his Lenexa, Kan. office. He can be followed on Twitter at @bradloncar and his commentary is available at www.loncarblog.com.