Biogen To License Alzheimer Candidate From Bristol-Myers

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) recently announced that it has inked a deal to buy worldwide rights for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (NYSE:BMY) anti-tau antibody, BMS-986168, for an upfront payment of $300 million.

Biogen sees significant potential in the development and commercialization of BMS-986168 for the treatment of both Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). The deal is expected to be closed in the second quarter of 2017.

BMS-986168 is an antibody targeting extracellular tau, which is a protein that deposits in the brain associated with AD and other neurodegenerative tauopathies such as PSP. Biogen plans to soon initiate phase II studies for BMS-986168 in both AD and PSP.

Under the licensing deal, Bristol-Myers will receive an additional $410 million as milestone payments and potential royalties.

Biogen’s shares have underperformed the Zacks classified Medical-Biomed/Genetics industry so far this year. Shares of the company lost 4.1%, while the industry registered an increase of 2.9%.



The addition of BMS-986168 reflects Biogen’s rising focus on AD. We expect this move to enhance the company’s portfolio of rare neurodegenerative diseases. Promising pipeline candidates include aducanumab (BIIB037, Alzheimer's disease).

We note that Biogen also has a partnership agreement with Japan-based pharma company, Eisai, to develop and commercialize potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease. As part of the collaboration, the companies are jointly developing Eisai's two candidates E2609 and BAN2401. Both these candidates are designed to target build-ups of amyloid plaque in the brain, reduce current levels of build-up and stop the formation of new plaques.

We believe that the company will continue to pursue deals to add late-stage and commercial assets to its portfolio.

Per the company’s press release, around 25 million individuals were living with AD worldwide in 2010. Moreover, three to six in every 100,000 people worldwide are estimated to be affected by PSP. Hence, approval of the candidate will provide the company access to a huge patient base suffering from the disease.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Biogen currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the health care sector are Heska Corporation (NASDAQ:HSKA) and Galena Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:GALE) . Each of these stocks sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Heska’s earnings per share estimates increased from $1.53 to $1.65 for 2017 and from $1.90 to $2.01 for 2018 over the last 30 days. The company posted a positive surprise in three of the four trailing quarters with an average beat of 291.54%.

Galena’s loss per share estimates narrowed from $1.12 to 58 cents for 2017 and over the last 30 days. The company posted positive earnings surprises in two of the four trailing quarters, with an average beat of 53.83%.

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