Follow Regeneron to never miss an important update.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved the company's new treatment for a rare genetic disorder that causes bone to form where it should not, such as in muscles or tendons. In clinical trials, the drug significantly reduced this abnormal bone formation, which can otherwise lead to permanent loss of movement.
While the patient population for this specific condition is small, the approval adds another specialized medicine to the company's portfolio. It also demonstrates the continued productivity of its internal research engine, which is a key part of our view that the company can successfully invent new products to replace revenue from its older drugs.
Source: Reuters
Several law firms have filed class action lawsuits following the failure of a Phase 3 trial for a combination of the drugs fianlimab and Libtayo. The suits claim the company was not transparent about changes to the trial's rules or the risks involved before the negative results were made public.
While these types of lawsuits are common after a drug failure causes a stock to drop, they highlight the high stakes of the oncology pipeline. The company is trying to build a third pillar of revenue in cancer treatment to move beyond its reliance on eye and inflammatory drugs, so any setback in this area is a hurdle for that long-term goal.
Source: GlobeNewsWire
Biocon announced the U.S. launch of its biosimilar, which is a highly similar and cheaper version of the 2 mg dose of Eylea. This drug is used to treat conditions that cause vision loss, and it has been a primary source of cash for the company for years.
This launch was expected, but it puts the pressure on. To stay ahead, the company needs to keep moving patients over to Eylea HD, its newer, high-dose version that lasts longer between injections and still has patent protection. If that transition happens quickly, these cheaper rivals won't hurt the bottom line as much.
Source: Business Wire
Guggenheim increased its target from $1,000 to $1,030. This is significantly higher than the average analyst target of about $820, suggesting the firm sees more value in the drug pipeline than many of its peers.
Source: Guggenheim
The company earned $14.29 per share last quarter, easily beating the $10.16 analysts expected. Total revenue grew 17 percent to about $4.3 billion. The results were driven by record sales of Dupixent, an anti-inflammatory drug, and Eylea HD, the newer version of its eye medicine.
This is a great sign for the long-term plan. Sales of Eylea HD reached nearly $600 million, showing that the company is successfully moving patients to the newer drug before cheaper copies of the original version take over the market. Additionally, the company finished paying back its development debt to its partner Sanofi, which should leave it with more cash to invest in new research.
See the full quarter, and how our tracked metrics did
Source: 8-K filing
Analysts have recently issued a flurry of price target updates following the FDA approval of a new bone disorder drug. Most analysts, 34 of 49, rate the stock a buy, though the average target of $821 is slightly below today's price.
The company has beaten profit expectations for seven straight quarters, often by a wide margin. This suggests management is consistently under-promising and then outrunning even the most bullish forecasts.
| Expectation | |
|---|---|
| EPS | $16.00 |
| Revenue | $4.54B |