Opthea’s OPT-302 phase III failures for wet age-related macular oedema hurt the sector, but it is the “uncertainty” in Washington DC that is wounding the world’s stock exchanges.

The March Biotech Daily Top 40 Index (BDI-40) fell 14.9 percent to a collective market capitalization of $21,301 million, the four Big Caps of Cochlear, CSL, Pro Medicus and Resmed (which are not included in the BDI-40) fell 6.8 percent and the benchmark ASX200 was down a further 4.0 percent to 7,843.0 points.

With the US Department of Health and Human Services reporting the dismissal of 10,000 staff, the chaos in the United States and the imminent imposition of counter-productive tariffs are impacting the biotechnology sector as well as the broader markets.

While March felt like the worst month on record, it is comforting to know that the 14.9 percent fall is less than the January 2022 fall of 16.8 percent during the Covid-19 global downturn.

In March, the collective value of the four Big Caps fell 6.8 percent to $209,974 million.

Pro Medicus led the falls, down $6,620 million or 24.1 percent to $20,872 million, Resmed shed 6.0 percent to $51,244 million, CSL lost $5,330 million or 4.2 percent to $120,704 million, with Cochlear down 0.2 percent to $17,154 million.

Just seven of the BDI-40 companies were up, with four up by more than 10 percent. Thirty fell, with 19 down by more than 10 percent, while three were unchanged for the month.

Compumedics was March’s best, up $17 million or 34.0 percent to $67 million, followed by Emvision (17.5%), Orthocell (16.0%), EBR (13.6%), Prescient (8.6%), Curvebeam (2.2%) and SDI (1.0%). Micro-X, Percheron and Universal Biosensors were unchanged.

The deepest monetary fall was Telix, losing $1,278 million, but Clarity was the largest percentage fall, down $469 million or 40.9 percent to $678 million.

Imugene lost $145 million or 37.8 percent to $239 million, followed by Opthea (35.8%), Medadvisor (35.1%) Paradigm (32.5%), 4D Medical (25.6%), Polynovo (22.4%), Cynata (22.3%), Starpharma (22.0%), Resonance (21.7%), Aroa (20.5%), Mesoblast (20.3%), Cyclopharm (19.0%), Actinogen (18.4%), Neuren (16.3%), Medical Developments (16.0%), Telix (12.5%), Genetic Signatures (10.2%) and Amplia (10.0%).

Cannabis Corner fell a collective 3.5 percent in March to $249 million, down 31.6 percent for the 12 months to March 31, 2025. Five of the 10 companies fell, with four down by more than 10 percent, while three were unchanged. Vitura was the best, up six percent to $53 million with Inhalerx up 20 percent to $6 million.

In the US, the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index fell 6.1 percent in March to 4,244 points – down 4.2 percent for the 12 months. Queensland’s Protagonist climbed 27.8 percent to $4,750 million on two good news trials, Neuphoria (Bionomics) was up 10.7 percent to $31 million, Incannex lost 18.9 percent to $30 million, Eyepoint (Psivida) was down 13.6 percent, Redhill (with Australian assets) fell 14.3 percent, with Kazia down 12.5 percent.