Millennium Upgraded to 'Outperform,' Baird Analyst Says Cancer Drug Sales Will Grow
NEW YORK (AP) -- A Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst upgraded shares of Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. Friday, saying sales of its cancer drug Velcade will improve.
Analyst Christopher Raymond upgraded the stock to "Outperform" from "Neutral," and increased his price target to $14 per share from $11. He said Velcade will be prescribed more often as a primary treatment for multiple myeloma, a cancer affecting white blood cells in bone marrow, following a series of positive developments.
The biggest lift to Velcade revenue will come in December, Raymond said, when Millennium presents data from two late-stage trials at an American Society of Hematology conference.
"We think these large, randomized studies may serve as a significant impetus for physician use in the front-line setting, even before Velcade is granted a front-line label," he said.
The drug's value has increased due to Velcade's approval to treat mantle cell lymphoma (a rare form of cancer), approval as a combination treatment with Doxil (another cancer drug), and a co-promotion agreement with Johnson & Johnson, he said.
Investors have also overlooked the value of Millennium's pipeline, he added, but that could change in the next few quarters after the company provides more clinical data showing its experimental drugs are effective. |
