Pharma Stock Roundup: Lilly's Upbeat 2020 Outlook, FDA Nod For PFE & MRK's Drugs
Zacks Investment Research | Dec 19, 2019 09:22PM ET
In a busy week for the pharma sector ahead of the festive season, the FDA granted approval to Merck’s (NYSE:MRK) vaccine for Ebola Zaire disease, Ervebo and Pfizer’s (NYSE:PFE) prostate cancer drug, Xtandi for an expanded patient population. The European Commission approved AbbVie’s (NYSE:ABBV) rheumatoid arthritis drug Rinvoq (upadacitinib) and Roche’s (OTC:RHHBY) breast cancer drug Kadcyla for adjuvant treatment. Meanwhile, Lilly (NYSE:LLY) gave a better-than-expected financial outlook for the New Year while Roche finally closed its long pending acquisition of gene therapy maker, Spark Therapeutics.
Recap of the Week’s Most Important Stories:
FDA Approves Pfizer’s Xtandi for New Prostate Cancer Indication: The FDA granted approval to Pfizer’s supplemental new drug application (sNDA) looking for label expansion of Beovu was also granted a positive opinion by CHMP. Beovu was approved by the FDA in October.
We note that the European Commission generally considers the CHMP recommendation while approving a drug but isn’t bound by it.
The NYSE ARCA Pharmaceutical Index was up 1.9% in the last five trading sessions.
Here is how the seven major stocks performed in the last five trading sessions.
Last week, all the stocks were in the green except Bristol-Myers, which declined 1.7%. AstraZeneca recorded the maximum gain (7.5%).
In the past six months, Bristol-Myers has risen the most (27.4%) while Pfizer (PFE) lost the maximum (10.8%).
(See the last pharma stock roundup here: MRK, SNY to Buy Cancer Firms, LLY Starts New Lung Cancer Study)
What's Next in the Pharma World?
Watch out for regular pipeline and regulatory updates next week.
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