The biopharmaceutical industry's annual report card posted a B-plus. The BioWorld Biopharmaceutical Index, which embraces 21 of the top blue chip companies, generated a healthy 9 percent jump in value and the BioWorld Drug Developers Index soared a spectacular 55 percent in 2017. In a normal year, those returns would be more than enough to earn an A rating. However, the sector stumbled in the second half of the year with the Biopharmaceutical Index recording a 15 percent jump in value for the first six months of 2017, but a disappointing 5 percent drop in value in the second half of the year.