BBC focuses on biotech companies with lead drugs that are still in various phases of clinical trials and not yet approved marketing. Given the low historical success rates in clinical trials, the fund is a high-risk and high-reward bet on a small subset of biotech companies. It excludes companies with a lead drug candidate thats still in preclinical testing or research stage, prior to entering into human clinical trials. Also excluded are the following 12 distinct sub-industries: Animal Health, Diversified Healthcare, Investment Management, Healthcare Services, Non-Healthcare, Large Pharmaceuticals, Specialty Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Vaccines, Nutraceuticals, OTC Healthcare, or Tools. As such, investors looking for broad biotech exposure, won't find it in BBC. The Index Committee utilizes various public data sources to select portfolio holdings, including, SEC filings, public documents from the U.S. FDA, company press releases and official corporate websites.
