The booming pharmaceutical industry is showing no signs of slowing down. As the COVID-19 pandemic shows increasing signs of retreat in developed countries, major pharmaceutical companies are now turning their attention to the development of drugs for the treatment of other serious diseases. Cathie Wood is betting on DNA sequencing as the next big thing in the healthcare industry and has substantial investments in Novartis AG (NVS) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY). So, let’s look closer at these names.The pharmaceutical industry has fared relatively well over the past year due to surging capital inflows, investor optimism, and favorable tax treatment. The industry demonstrated impressive innovative capacity and resiliency and delivered multiple vaccines for coronavirus in less than a year.
Renowned investor Cathie Wood believes the sector's capacity to innovate will continue well into 2021 because biopharma companies are now focusing on developing cures for other life-threatening diseases. Given the ageing population in developed parts of the world, combined with inactive lifestyles amid the remote working structure, there is a huge market for therapies for critical ailments. Wood believes DNA sequencing to be the winning approach to solutions to such diseases and that it will revolutionize the healthcare industry.
Novartis AG (NVS) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) have made substantial progress in the field of cancer treatment and critical diseases, and are two of the top holdings in Wood’s Ark Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG).