Short Selling and Implications for The Biopharmaceutical Industry

Over the past decades, the practice of short selling in the biopharmaceutical industry has grown substantially. Biopharmaceutical companies have actively expressed concern about the potential consequences of short selling for the development of new drugs and therapies. We present evidence that biopharmaceutical companies are disproportionally targeted by short sellers. We also show that companies with an emphasis on Oncology treatments seem to be more likely to be targeted by short sellers. Finally, we find that an increase in the number of short positions is associated with a decrease in New Product and Clinical Trial Initiations.

近数十年来，生物制药行业的卖空（short selling）行为显著增长。生物制药企业已公开表达对卖空行为可能给新药与疗法研发带来潜在影响的担忧。本研究提供证据表明，生物制药企业不成比例地成为卖空者（short sellers）的目标。此外我们发现，专注于肿瘤学（Oncology）治疗的企业，似乎更易遭到卖空者的针对。最后我们发现，卖空头寸（short positions）数量的增加，与新产品及临床试验启动数量的减少存在关联。