Loncar Investments, a specialist exchange-traded fund and index provider, has unveiled the first ETF to track companies engaged in the research and development of therapies that treat cancer through the body’s immune system.

The new ETF from Loncar Investments tracks the most prominent companies in the immunotherapy space.

The Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF (CNCR) is based on an index developed by biotechnology investor Brad Loncar, and is designed to track companies with a strategic focus on immunotherapy; the transformational field within the biotechnology space focused on harnessing the body’s own immune system to treat cancer.

“Immunotherapy is changing the way many cancers are being treated,” said Brad Loncar, Chief Executive Officer of Loncar Investments. “This innovative field within biotechnology is expected to become the foundational treatment for cancer over the next ten years. We think it is important to give investors a benchmark to track the progress of this growing biotechnology sector, which over time will likely continue to have a positive impact on society.”

Loncar Investments has partnered with Exchange Traded Concepts (ETC), the white-label ETF issuer platform, to launch the fund. ETC’s infrastructure and expertise in launching funds is an ideal match for innovative concepts such as the Loncar fund. This launch adds to the growing market trend whereby specialist issuers such as ETC are facilitating niche fund launches through their turnkey ETF solutions.

“The science of cancer immunotherapy is one of the most exciting areas within biotechnology,” said J. Garrett Stevens, CEO of Exchange Traded Concepts. “The Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF allows investors to participate in the breakthrough in this well-defined sector in a diversified way.”

The fund tracks the Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy Index which was designed to capture the performance of leading large- and small-cap companies in the field of immunotherapy. The index methodology first selects the top seven large pharmaceutical companies who are working on immunotherapy. Following this, the top 23 growth biotechnology companies in immunotherapy, by market capitalisation, are added. The 30 constituents are assigned an equal weight within the index which is rebalanced semi-annually. A company’s involvement in the immunotherapy space is measured by criteria such as whether they have an approved immunotherapy drug or are in advanced stages of testing such drugs.

The fund includes both large pharmaceutical and growth-oriented biotechnology companies that are leading this disruptive approach to cancer treatment. Bristol-Myers Squibb (4.15%), Merck (3.89%), Juno Therapeutics (3.53%) and Cellectis (2.98%) are four of the index’s 30 holdings.

The fund has been listed on the Nasdaq and carries a 0.79% expense ratio.