NEW HAVEN, Conn., July 1, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ACHN) announced that it has been added to the Russell 2000 and Russell Microcap Indexes. Each June, Russell realigns its family of global equity indexes to reflect market changes in the past year.
Annual reconstitution of Russell's U.S. indexes captures the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of the end of May, ranking them by total market capitalization. The Russell Indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for active investment strategies. As of December 31, 2013, approximately $5.2 trillion in assets were benchmarked to the Russell Indexes.
About the Russell 2000 Index
The Russell 2000® Index measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity market and is a subset of the Russell 3000 Index which represents approximately 10% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000. It includes approximately 2000 small-cap companies based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. The Russell 2000 is constructed to provide a comprehensive and unbiased small-cap barometer and is completely reconstituted annually to ensure larger stocks do not distort the performance and characteristics of the true small-cap opportunity set.
About the Russell Microcap Index
The Russell Microcap® Index measures the performance of the microcap segment of the U.S. equity market. Microcap stocks make up less than 3% of the U.S. equity market (by market cap) and consist of the smallest 1,000 securities in the small-cap Russell 2000 Index, plus the next 1,000 smallest eligible securities by market cap. The Russell Microcap Index is constructed to provide a comprehensive and unbiased barometer for the microcap segment trading on national exchanges. The Index is completely reconstituted annually to ensure new and growing equities are reflected and companies continue to reflect appropriate capitalization and value characteristics.
About Achillion Pharmaceuticals
Achillion is an innovative pharmaceutical company dedicated to bringing important new treatments to patients with infectious disease. Achillion's discovery, clinical development, and commercial teams have advanced multiple novel product candidates with proven mechanisms of action into studies and toward the market. Achillion is focused on solutions for the most challenging problems in infectious disease including HCV and resistant bacterial infections. For more information on Achillion Pharmaceuticals, please visit www.achillion.com or call 1-203-624-7000.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Achillion may use words such as "expect," "anticipate," "project," "intend," "plan," "aim," "believe," "seek," " estimate," "can," "focus," "will," and "may" and similar expressions to identify such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include those that are described in the reports filed by Achillion with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, and its subsequent SEC filings.
In addition, any forward-looking statement in this press release represents Achillion's views only as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Achillion disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statement, except as required by applicable law.