Biotech Stock Roundup: Biogen Q2 Results Impress, Gilead HCV Franchise Under Pressure

Earnings season for the biotech sector has kicked off with two big biotech names, Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) and Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD) reporting second quarter results. Meanwhile, companies like AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) and Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) provided updates on their pipeline efforts.

Recap of the Week’s Most Important Stories

1. Two major biotech companies reported second quarter results over the last few days – Biogen and Gilead. First a look at Biogen’s results – Biogen’s second-quarter results were pretty good with the company surpassing earnings expectations by a huge margin and beating on revenues as well.

The company also raised its outlook for the year. However, Biogen’s CEO announced that he will be stepping down once a successor is identified (Read more: Biogen Stock Up on Q2 Earnings Beat, Raised Outlook).

Meanwhile, Gilead’s results were mixed with the company beating on earnings by a penny and revenues falling short of expectations. Moreover, Gilead cut its product sales outlook for the year (Read more: Gilead Beats on Q2 Earnings, Cuts 2016 Sales View) with its hepatitis C virus (HCV) segment under pressure.

2. AbbVie, which will be reporting second quarter results later this week, came out with quite a few updates on the pipeline and regulatory front. The company’s extended release once-daily version of HCV treatment, Viekira Pak, gained FDA approval. Viekira XR is approved for the treatment of patients with chronic genotype 1 (GT1) HCV, including those with compensated cirrhosis (Child-Pugh A).

Additionally, AbbVie is a step closer to gaining EU approval for a 12-week regimen of Viekirax with ribavirin for genotype 4 (GT4) chronic HCV infected adult patients with or without compensated cirrhosis, with the CHMP issuing a positive opinion.

AbbVie also entered into a clinical trial collaboration with Bristol-Myers under which the safety, tolerability and efficacy of AbbVie's investigational biomarker-specific antibody drug conjugate rova-T (rovalpituzumab tesirine) will be evaluated in combination with Bristol-Myers’ Opdivo and Opdivo + Yervoy regimen for the treatment of relapsed extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Rova-T became a part of AbbVie’s pipeline following the recent Stemcentrx acquisition.

3. Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG) has decided it will not seek marketing approval for the expansion of the label of its blockbuster drug, Revlimid, as maintenance treatment in a certain type of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients. The decision is based on data from a phase III study – while patients on Revlimid showed an improvement in progression-free survival, an interim analysis revealed that no benefit was seen in the Revlimid arm where overall survival is concerned.

4. Amgen also provided some updates on the pipeline front. Firstly, the company and its partner, UCB, have filed for FDA approval of their experimental osteoporosis treatment, romosozumab. The other update came from the biosimilar front – Amgen and partner Allergan (NYSE:AGN_pa) said that their biosimilar version of cancer treatment, Herceptin (trastuzumab) fared well in a late-stage study. We note that Amgen has nine biosimilars in its pipeline and recently got a favorable FDA advisory panel recommendation for its Humira biosimilar.

Performance

MEDICAL-BIOMED/GENETICS Industry Price Index

MEDICAL-BIOMED/GENETICS Industry Price Index

The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index was up 3.8% over the last five trading days. The biggest gainer among major biotech stocks was Biogen, which was up 10.5% on strong second quarter results. Gilead declined 5.1% during this period reflecting disappointment regarding the company’s second quarter results and outlook. Over the last six months, Biogen was up 10.5% while Alexion (NASDAQ:ALXN) lost 17.0% (See the last biotech stock roundup here: Celgene in Immuno-Oncology Deal, Zafgen Drops Lead Drug).

What's Next in the Biotech World?

Quite a few major biotech companies will be reporting second quarter results over the next few days including Vertex (NASDAQ:VRTX) , Celgene, AbbVie and Amgen.

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