Why Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Stock Is Crushing It Today
Shares of the large-cap biotech Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN) were up by a healthy 19.2% on exceptionally heavy volume as of 1:46 p.m. ET Thursday afternoon. The drugmaker has thus gained over $12 billion in market capitalization through the first half of Thursday's trading session.
What's sparking this double-digit rise? Earlier today, Regeneron and Bayer announced that their jointly developed anti-blindness medication Eylea (generic name: aflibercept) met the primary endpoint in two late-stage trials. The big deal is that these positive trial results support the use of Eylea at higher dosages (8 mg compared to 2 mg) at longer dosing intervals (16 weeks versus 8 weeks).
Regeneron and Bayer's megablockbuster therapy could face biosimilar competition (generic versions of biologic drugs) as soon as next year. These dosing data might slam the door shut on the copycat threat for the time being, and make it more competitive against rivals such as Roche's new eye disease drug, Vabysmo.
Source Fool.com
