Is AbbVie or Amgen the Better Bargain Buy Right Now?
When patent protection expires on pharma companies' biggest sellers, it can be devastating for their finances. Due to the highly competitive nature of the pharmaceutical industry, it is no easy task to replace the aging stars in a drug portfolio.
Teva Pharmaceutical (NYSE: TEVA) illustrates this point nicely. In the middle of the last decade, Teva lost exclusivity for its multiple sclerosis medication Copaxone. And after a failed attempt to offset that drug's declining sales through a large bolt-on acquisition, Teva's shares wilted. As a result of that encounter with the patent cliff, Teva's stock price is down by nearly 90% from its all-time high.
Right now, biopharma heavyweights AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) and (NASDAQ: AMGN) are both in the midst of their own patent cliff scenarios. AbbVie lost exclusivity for its flagship medication Humira in the U.S. earlier this year, and Amgen is struggling with a host of patent expiries within its legacy portfolio of biologics. Despite several tangible R wins, AbbVie and Amgen are both trading at bargain-basement valuations of less than 13 times forward earnings. But which of these top pharma stocks is the better buy now?
Source Fool.com
Amgen Inc. Stock
With 25 Buy predictions and not a single Sell prediction Amgen Inc. is an absolute favorite of our community.
However, we have a potential of -1.44% for Amgen Inc. as the target price of 304 € is below the current price of 308.45 €.
