Better Buy: Vertex Pharmaceuticals vs. Alexion Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) and Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALXN) are two major competitors in the healthcare sector, both of whom focus on developing drugs for rare diseases like cystic fibrosis and myasthenia gravis. Each company is profitable, makes around $5.45 billion in trailing revenue, and is rapidly growing its quarterly revenue. Furthermore, the pair have outperformed the market over the last 10 years, and neither has much debt in comparison to their cash on hand.

Either Vertex or Alexion could be a favorable investment for the long term. But, between these two stocks, I think one of them has a slight edge, and it comes down to market penetration and diversification into new markets. Let's dive in and examine each stock in detail to see how they rate.

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Source Fool.com