Although collectively the large-cap biotech companies have failed to move the valuation needle this year, those innovative mid-cap public companies engaged in areas of research such as immuno-oncology, cell and gene therapies and CNS diseases have bucked the general trend. That is illustrated by the year-to-date performance of the BioWorld Drug Developers index, which has soared in value by more than 22%, well ahead of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has increased 15% in the same period.