Daily ETF Watch: Fund To Target Cancer

At a time when biotechnology is outperforming the vast majority of industries, ETF Series Solutions is looking to usher in a fund that targets a very specific portion of the space. The Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF (CNCR) selects its components from a universe of pharmaceutical and biotech companies that are listed on a U.S. exchange, either as common stock or ADRs.

Immunotherapy basically includes treatments that marshal the body’s own immune system to fight cancer, such as antibody therapies, cancer vaccines, chimeric antigen receptor technologies and checkpoint inhibitors, according to Loncar’s website.

Eligible index components must qualify as immunotherapy companies per Loncar and also meet a liquidity standard and not be under investigation by any government or regulatory agency, according to the prospectus.

The fund’s underlying index includes the seven-largest pharmaceutical companies meeting these requirements and the 23 largest biotech firms that do the same. Components are equal-weighted.

As of July 9, 2015, the index’s constituents included big names like Merck, Bristol Myers and Pfizer, and lesser-known firms such as Oncothyreon, Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Aduro BioTech.

The filing did not include an expense ratio.