FDA Approves Strensiq for Alexion Pharma (ALXN); Oppenheimer Reiterates Outperform
Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating and $228.00 price target on Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALXN) following FDA's approval of Strensiq for treatment of perinatal, infantile, and juvenileonset hypophosphatasia. Alexion announced anticipation of a $285,000 average annual cost initially for Strensiq. However, as children grow and live beyond HPP natural history, we expect pricing and prevalence to grow.
Analyst Christopher Marai commented, "On 10/23, the FDA approved Strensiq for treatment of perinatal, infantile, and juvenileonset hypophosphatasia (HPP) and receipt of a rare pediatric disease voucher (to be used by ALXN for internal pipeline assets). While this approval was largely expected, we continue to believe upside exists from Strensiq to consensus, even with conservative estimates. We believe the Street has modest expectations for Alexion's ERT platform, which will likely require a high-touch selling model, falling into Alexion's historical strengths in the rare-disease space, achieving consistently high pricing and continually growing sales for Soliris. We continue to estimate conservative 4Q15 Strensiq sales of $8.9M, unchanged, with 110 patients on the drug by YE15. We use BioMarin's Naglazyme/Vimizim launch trajectories to guide our estimate (more, pp. 5-6). We reiterate our Outperform and $228 PT."
For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Alexion Pharmaceuticals click here. For more ratings news on Alexion Pharmaceuticals click here.
Shares of Alexion Pharmaceuticals closed at $171.16 yesterday.