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BeiGene Bernstein Analyst Slashes Forecast By Almost 42%

BeiGene Ltd

declined in early trading on Friday, maintaining its downward trajectory through the week amid weakness in Chinese stocks.

AbbVie’s

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patent case, which claims multiple infringements, is likely to be an overhang on BeiGene’s stock, according to Bernstein.

The BeiGene Analyst: Rebecca Liang downgraded the rating for BeiGene from Outperform to Market Perform, while slashing the price target from $335 to $196.

The BeiGene Thesis: It takes four to five years on average to settle a case, and BeiGene chances of winning in court “don't look great,” Liang said in the downgrade note.

AbbVie’s claims “seem to stack up,” he added.

“The patent case not only exposes the vulnerability of BeiGene's single-asset-play to external blows, but also casts doubts on their long-presumed R&D leadership,” the analyst wrote.

Besides Brukinsa, there are no major growth drivers for BeiGene, he further stated.

https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/23/06/33078601/why-this-beigene-analyst-slashes-forecast-by-almost-42

Pfizer, European Pharmas Collaborate With EC For Future Health Emergency Preparedness

The European Commission has reportedly made arrangements with Pfizer Inc

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and various European pharmaceutical companies to secure the capacity to produce up to 325 million vaccines annually for potential future global health crises.

In May, the European Commission agreed with BioNTech SE

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and Pfizer on adapting the existing contract on vaccines against Covid-19, including a reduction in the quantity of doses purchased by EU countries under the contract and pushing the delivery deadline to 2026.

Under the agreement, companies will maintain their facilities in a state of readiness, monitor supply chains, and stockpile as needed, to enable rapid production if a new public health crisis arises, Reuters reported.

However, vaccine equity activists caution that this plan could repeat the "vaccine apartheid" observed during the COVID-19 crisis.

Pfizer's plants in Ireland and Belgium have been chosen by the Commission to reserve mRNA vaccine production capacity; Spanish firms Reig Jofre and Laboratorios Hipra SA have been chosen for protein-based vaccine capacity and Bilthoven Biologicals B.V. of the Netherlands for vector-based vaccines.

Pfizer acknowledges the urgent need for improved pandemic preparedness and response planning and asserts that it has taken significant measures to prepare for potential future global disease outbreaks without specifying these measures.

Reig Jofre reveals that its deal with the EU reserves capacity for four years, with the option to extend up to a maximum of eight years, though financial details were undisclosed.

The World Health Organization has recommended that governments and manufacturers reserve up to 20% of any tests, vaccines, or treatments for distribution in poorer nations to avoid a recurrence of the "catastrophic failure" experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. This suggestion is part of a draft global pandemic agreement currently under discussion.

https://www.benzinga.com/general/biotech/23/06/33080675/pfizer-european-pharma-firms-collaborate-with-european-commission-for-future-health-emergency-pre

Potential Upside For Eiger's Avexitide In Both PBH And CHI Indications: Baird

Thursday, Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Inc

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announced it would focus its development efforts on advancing avexitide in hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia indications.

Following a comprehensive review of programs, the company decided to allocate resources towards the potential of avexitide in treating metabolic diseases, with a primary focus on post-bariatric hypoglycemia (PBH), a condition with significant revenue potential.

Baird raised the price target from $3 to $5 with an Outperform rating, citing prudent reprioritization away from virology.

It says that it is a bit surprising to see PBH shifted ahead of congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) as the lead avexitide indication. The analyst also says that given its enthusiasm around CHI, it sees upside potential with both opportunities.

The analyst viewed the opportunity for avexitide in congenital hyperinsulinism as attractive for quite some time, and roughly a year ago, it hosted a KOL call with CHI pioneer Dr. Charles Stanley, which fortified the optimism around this indication.

In discussing the reasoning with management, Baird analyst noted that PBH presents a more significant commercial opportunity, even factoring in a potential priority review voucher with potential CHI approval, where rare pediatric disease designation has been granted.

Baird analyst also said the company's strategy to partner its virology programs for peginterferon lambda and lonafarnib is in line with what it noted would be a value-maximizing scenario of eliminating any further spend in HDV and to focus on avexitide.

https://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/23/06/33082155/potential-upside-for-eigers-avexitide-in-both-pbh-and-chi-indications-analyst

Gilead, Teva Cleared of Pay-to-Delay HIV Drug Antitrust Claims

A California jury found that Gilead Sciences Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. didn’t engage in an anticompetitive conspiracy to delay generic versions of HIV treatment Truvada and other drugs.

The unanimous verdict Friday from the US District Court for the Northern District of California affirmed that a 2014 patent settlement between Foster City, Calif.-based Gilead and Israel-based Teva didn’t violate antitrust law.

Consumers and other direct purchasers, including the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, filed the antitrust lawsuit in 2019, alleging that Gilead maintained a monopoly in the HIV drug market by unlawfully extending patent protection for its drugs to delay generic competitors’ entry. Plaintiffs sought $3.6 billion in damages.

Gilead allegedly paid Teva, a generic drugmaker, a “reverse payment” worth $1 billion in a patent settlement to shelve Teva’s generic versions of Truvada and another similar drug, the lawsuit claimed. In reverse payments, a patent-owner company pays an alleged patent infringer, typically a generic drugmaker, to delay selling the generic version.

The companies’ agreement resulted in higher prices for the HIV drugs, plaintiffs claimed.

But the verdict affirmed that the companies’ settlement “was not a reverse payment,” Gilead said in a Friday statement.

Teva didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case is In re HIV Antitrust Litigation, N.D. Cal., No. 3:19-cv-02573, 6/30/23.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/antitrust/gilead-teva-cleared-of-pay-to-delay-hiv-drug-antitrust-claims