Needham & Company Maintains a 'Hold' on Vertex (VRTX); Incivek Sales Exceed Expectations Again, But Growth Appears to Be Slowing

Needham & Company maintains a 'Hold' on Vertex (NASDAQ: VRTX).

Needham analyst says, "Vertex reported $420M in U.S. 3Q11 Incivek sales yesterday, well above our $320M and Street estimates. However, higher resolution sales data provided by the company during the conference call yesterday appear to confirm a leveling off of new scripts seen in IMS data since August...We view current valuation as adequate (~$8.2B EV) and maintain our rating. Our primary concern is the potential arrival of competitive HCV agents ~YE13, which we expect to erode Incivek market share. Notable increases in new scripts, surprisingly strong all-oral Incivek/VX222/RBV HCV data, and/or impressive VX-770+VX-809/VX-661 data in a broad CF population may alter our outlook...We estimate $545MM (was $497M) and $1.04B (was $890M) in 4Q11 and 2011 U.S. Incivek sales. Our new 2011 EPS estimate is $0.82 (was $(0.67))."

For more ratings news on Vertex click here and for the rating history of Vertex click here.

Shares of Vertex closed at $42.58 yesterday.

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