Alexion shares gain on Soliris pricing
Shares of Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. jumped Monday as the company priced its recently approved blood-disorder treatment Soliris above analyst expectations.
The stock gained $4.03, or 10 percent, to reach $44.10 on the Nasdaq Stock Market in afternoon trading. Shares reached a 52-week high of $45.78 earlier in the trading session. They have traded as low as $29.81 over the last 52 weeks.
The company priced Soliris, or eculizumab, at $389,000 for a year, which includes 26 treatment courses, analysts said. It treats a rare condition called paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria or PNH, which can lead to disability and premature death.
Several analysts boosted their sales estimates and price target for the company citing the pricing news.
Goldman Sachs analyst Meg Malloy reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on the stock and boosted her price target to $60 from $53. She also raised her sales forecast for the drug in 2007 to $30 million from $24 million and to $120 million from $108 million in 2008.
Rollout of the drug will likely be gradual, she said, with European approval and rollout in the coming months.
Morgan Stanley analyst Sapna Srivastava held an "overweight" rating with a $50 price target, but said she is in the process of updating the estimates and reviewing the price target.
"We see significant upside in the stock based on the high price for Soliris," she wrote in a note to investors. "While it is much higher than street expectations, it is largely in range with other ultra-orphan drugs," she said.
Drugs are given orphan status when they are being developed to treat rare diseases or conditions.
Piper Jaffray analyst Rachel McMinn reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and raised the price target to $53 from $51 on expectations for higher revenue from Soliris sales. The drug could have blockbuster potential she said, referring to the possibility that it could eventually reach sales of more than $1 billion in a year.
Bear Stearns analyst Dr. Samad Akhtar also reaffirmed an "outperform" rating with a $52 price target.
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