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Biotech Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ’ ( REGN ) core ophthalmology business still has huge upside as its Eylea sales grow in treating a variety of eye diseases, says RBC Capital. RBC also says that a legal settlement with Amgen ( AMGN ) over Praluent, a drug intended to lower bad LDL cholesterol, would be a positive. Most of Regeneron’s sales come from Eylea, launched in 2011 to treat age-related vision loss in the elderly. Regeneron aims to build sales of Eylea in the market for treating diabetic macular edema (DME), a cause of blindness in working-age people, as well as a related eye disease affecting older people. “Turning DME into a $2 billion to $3 billion market opportunity is important and likely,” Adnan Butt, an RBC Capital analyst, said in a research report Tuesday. In DME, Eylea competes with Roche Holding ’s ( RHHBY ) Lucentis. Regeneron typically reports earnings in early May. Roche, Novartis ( NVS ) and Bayer ( BAYRY ) report earnings on April 19, 21 and 26, respectively, and their commentary could provide insights into Eylea’s growth, says RBC’s Butt. He says that consensus expectations for the recently launched cholesterol drug Praluent, which had only $7 million in December-quarter sales, still need to come down. Amgen makes a rival drug called Repatha. In March, a federal jury upheld the validity of two Amgen patents related to the cholesterol drug, dealing a blow to Regeneron and partner Sanofi ( SNY ). “A settlement with Amgen could be a positive,” Butt said in the report. He rates Regeneron stock outperform, with a price target of 668. Regeneron stock was up more than 1.5% in early afternoon trading in the stock market today , near 402.50. Amgen reports earnings on April 28, followed by Sanofi on April 29. Their earnings calls could provide reads on the status of Praluent litigation, says Butt. Regeneron stock has plunged 26% in 2016 amid a broad sell-off in biotech stocks, including Celgene ( CELG ) and Gilead Sciences ( GILD ). Regeneron shares touched a six-month low below 349 last month but jumped on April 1 after the company announced strong phase three clinical results for dupilumab, a drug for eczema, an itchy skin condition. Regeneron is developing that drug with Sanofi. “The landmark deal with Sanofi provides $160 million per year to fund antibody discovery for eight years, gives Regeneron 50% of the profit and defers all development costs until the partnership is profitable,” added Butts. Startup Intellia Therapeutics late Monday announced a licensing deal with Regeneron. Cambridge, Mass.-based Intellia has developed “gene editing” technology to treat liver and blood diseases. It plans to go public. Regeneron has an IBD composite rating of 58 out of a possible 99, lower than both Celgene and Gilead. IBD’s Medical-Biomed/Biotech group ranks just No. 108 out of 197 industry groups. That’s down from No. 39 six months ago. But it’s up 9.8% the past four weeks, 10th best in that span. Anika Therapeutics ( ANIK ), Supernus Pharmaceuticals ( SUPN ) and Ligand Pharmaceuticals ( LGND ) have the highest IBD Composite Ratings within the biotech group. Scalper1 News
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