Well, the biotechs have been leading the recent record setting rallies so it makes sense that there would be a correction and that's what happened today with the entire index sinking more than 4% on disappointing reports from several major companies, not the least of which was a catastrophic 80% one-day drop in share price from Celladon Corporation which does experimental gene therapy.  The company's major product failed a critical trial which may now be spelling its doom.  One thing that is very much on investors' minds these days is the horrendous increase in drug prices this past year, something that has aroused so much suspicion that the Congress announced a while back that it was launching an investigation.  I can say from my personal experience that for 20 years I've been taking belladonna which has always been about $7 for a month's supply and it has now skyrocketed to $450 for a month's supply.  Needless, I am trying to get along without it now but am always very glad to hear that somebody is looking in to how this could be happening.  It is actually a relief that this problem is now adversely impacting stock prices so that maybe Wall Street will demand some answers.  The Dow closed down 42 points with 6.8 billion shares traded overall, making it a higher than average day.

Markets | Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:40pm EDT

Wall St. ends down as biotechs drop 4 percent

BY CAROLINE VALETKEVITCH

DJ:    18,037.97  -42.17      NAS:      5,060.25  -31.84          S&P:      2,108.92  -8.77

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended down on Monday, led by losses in biotech shares after disappointing news from several companies including Amgen.

The Nasdaq Biotech Index .NBI sank 4.1 percent, its biggest daily percentage loss since March 25, while the S&P Healthcare index .SPXHC, down 1.8 percent, was the biggest drag on the benchmark S&P 500 index.

Amgen shares (AMGN.O) led the S&P 500's decline, dropping 3.3 percent to $162.38 after U.S. regulators said Amgen's skin cancer immunotherapy cannot be considered for an accelerated review at this time.

Celladon Corp (CLDN.O) shares fell 80.7 percent to $2.64 and hit a record low of $2.59. It said it expected layoffs and cost cuts after the company's lead experimental gene therapy to treat heart failure failed a key trial.

Healthcare companies have been the top performers so far in 2015, helping push major stock indexes to records. Biotechs in particular have driven up the Nasdaq, which last week reached its first all-time closing high in 15 years.

The sector is being dragged down by reports of high pricing by specialty pharmaceutical companies as well as the disappointing news from Celladon and Amgen, said Paul Yook portfolio manager of biotech exchange traded funds (BBC.P) and (BBP.P) at LifeSci Partners in New York.

"Drug pricing has been a real concern for investors," he said.

The Nasdaq biotech sector briefly fell into bear market territory a year ago following a selloff in Gilead (GILD.O) shares and concerns about valuations. But analysts said for now they don't view Monday's selloff as the start of a bigger drop. The Nasdaq biotech index is up more than 50 percent since April 2014.

"This run in the biotechs is going to come to end at some point but I'm not panicking yet," said Bill Gunderson, president of Gunderson Capital in San Diego.

"I don't think you can look at what's happening today and say this is the end of the biotech sector. You might just have a big institution reallocating a little bit of money here."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 42.17 points, or 0.23 percent, to 18,037.97, theS&P 500 .SPX lost 8.77 points, or 0.41 percent, to 2,108.92 and the Nasdaq Composite.IXIC dropped 31.84 points, or 0.63 percent, to 5,060.25.

Also in the healthcare space, Mylan (MYL.O) fell 5.7 percent to $71.72 after it rejected Teva Pharmaceutical's (TEVA.N) unsolicited $40 billion takeover offer, saying it "grossly undervalues" the company. Teva lost 4.3 percent to $61.63.

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV.P) exchange-traded fund was down 1.8 percent.

Limiting some of the day's decline, Apple (AAPL.O) shares rose 1.8 percent at $132.65 ahead of its results.

NYSE declining issues outnumbered advancers 1,923 to 1,130, for a 1.70-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,956 issues fell and 805 advanced, for a 2.43-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and 1 new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 101 new highs and 42 new lows.

(Note: no volume stats in today’s report but other sources cited 6.8 billion as the number. This is higher than average activity.)