GI Survey Bodes Well for Valeant (VRX), Less So For Allergan (AGN) - Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank analyst Gregg Gilbert said their GI survey bodes well for Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) and less so for Allergan (NYSE: AGN).

The firm commissioned a survey of 25 primary care physicians (PCPs) that frequently prescribe drugs for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in order to assess their views on VRX’s Xifaxan and AGN’s Viberzi and Linzess

The docs: 1) expect their prescribing for IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D) to increase over the next year; 2) anticipate solid share growth for Xifaxan for IBS-D, with more modest expectations for Viberzi; and 3) expect modest growth in their prescribing of Linzess for constipation-predominant IBS (IBS-C) and Xifaxan for hepatic encephalopathy (HE).

"For VRX, we continue to model an acceleration in growth for Xifaxan, which we believe is supported by the survey results," Gilbert commented. "For AGN, we view the survey as supportive of our slowing growth assumptions for Linzess and our flattish estimates for Viberzi."

The firm maintained a Hold rating and price target of $18 on VRX.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Valeant Pharmaceuticals click here. For more ratings news on Valeant Pharmaceuticals click here.

Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals closed at $14.46 yesterday.

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