Advertisement
Singapore markets closed
  • Straits Times Index

    3,224.01
    -27.70 (-0.85%)
     
  • Nikkei

    40,343.08
    +175.01 (+0.44%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Bitcoin USD

    70,834.68
    +1,433.83 (+2.07%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • Dow

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Nasdaq

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • Gold

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2060
    +0.0100 (+0.24%)
     
  • FTSE Bursa Malaysia

    1,537.22
    +6.62 (+0.43%)
     
  • Jakarta Composite Index

    7,288.81
    -21.28 (-0.29%)
     
  • PSE Index

    6,903.53
    +5.36 (+0.08%)
     

The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Sanofi, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and J&J

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 1, 2022 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Sanofi SNY, Merck MRK, Novartis NVS, Pfizer PFE and J&J JNJ.

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Pharma Stock Roundup: FDA, EU and More

This week, an FDA committee recommended updated booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine to fight the Omicron variant. The European Commission (EC) approved Sanofi’s two new drugs, Nexviadyme (avalglucosidase alfa) and Xenpozyme (olipudase alfa) as well as the expanded use of Merck's Keytruda and Novartis' Cosentyx. Pfizer signed a new COVID-19 vaccine supply deal with the U.S. government. The FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation (BTD) to J&J's multiple myeloma candidate, talquetamab

Recap of the Week's Most Important Stories

FDA Committee Recommends Redesigning COVID Boosters to Target Omicron: The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted to recommend the updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters that target the Omicron variant and its subvariants to improve vaccine effectiveness. The VRBPAC committee voted 19-2, recommending the modification of the current strain composition of available COVID-19 vaccines by incorporating genetic material from the Omicron variant in the modified boosters.

ADVERTISEMENT

If the FDA follows the VRBPAC's recommendation, which it usually does, vaccine makers, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna will need to roll out modified boosters of their vaccines. Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are already developing Omicron-based COVID-19 vaccine boosters to address the rise of new and evolving Omicron subvariants. These Omicron-targeted vaccines have shown promise in clinical studies.

However, the vote did not specify if the modified boosters should target the Omicron variant or both the Omicron as well as the older ancestral strains of the virus. It was also not clear whether the modified boosters will target the more recent Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, which represent more than half of all U.S. COVID-19 cases now.

Sanofi Gets Approval for Two New Drugs in Europe: The EC approved Sanofi's two new enzyme replacement therapies, Nexviadyme (avalglucosidase alfa) and Xenpozyme (olipudase alfa).

While Nexviadyme was approved for the treatment of both late-onset Pompe disease and infantile-onset Pompe disease, a rare degenerative muscle disorder, Xenpozyme (olipudase alfa) was approved for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with non-Central Nervous System manifestations of acid sphingomyelinase deficiency (ASMD), a rare, progressive, and potentially life-threatening genetic disease.

Avalglucosidase alfa is already approved in the United States, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Brazil, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates in the name of Nexviazyme. Xenpozyme is already approved in Japan for ASMD. An application seeking approval for olipudase alfa is under review in the United States, with a decision expected next week.

Merck's Keytruda and Novartis' Cosentyx Win Approvals for Expanded Use in Europe: The EC also approved Merck's blockbuster cancer drug, Keytruda, for expanded use in the melanoma indication. Keytruda is now approved as an adjuvant treatment for adults and adolescent patients with stage IIB or IIC melanoma and who have undergone complete resection.

Apart from stage IIB or IIC melanoma, the EC approved a label expansion of Keytruda to include adolescent patients aged 12 years and older with advanced melanoma and stage III melanoma (as adjuvant treatment following complete resection). The drug is already approved for these advanced disease stages in adults in Europe.

The EC approved Novartis' blockbuster arthritis drug, Cosentyx (secukinumab) for a new indication. The EC has now approved Cosentyx alone or in combination with methotrexate in the juvenile idiopathic arthritis categories of enthesitis-related arthritis and juvenile psoriatic arthritis in patients aged six years and above whose disease has responded inadequately to, or who cannot tolerate conventional therapy.

Pfizer's New COVID Vaccine Supply Deal with U.S. Government: Pfizer announced a new agreement with the U.S. government to supply 105 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for a payment of $3.2 billion

The deal includes its Omicron-adapted COVID-19 jabs if they are granted Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA. The first 105 million doses are expected to be delivered into the fourth quarter of this year. The deal also includes an option to purchase up to 195 million additional doses, bringing the total number of potential doses to 300 million.

Pfizer has already shared data from studies on its two Omicron-adapted vaccine candidates with regulators, including the FDA, and a request for EUA is planned.

FDA's Breakthrough Tag for Novel Multiple Myeloma Candidate: The FDA granted BTD to J&J's pipeline candidate, talquetamab, for heavily pre-treated patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Talquetamab is a first-in-class bispecific antibody T-cell engager using GPRC5D, a novel target for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The designation is based on data from the phase I/II MonumenTAL-1 study.

The NYSE ARCA Pharmaceutical Index rose 3.5% in the last five trading sessions.

All the stocks were in the green in the last five trading sessions. Roche rose the most (5.5%).

In the past six months, Merck rose the most (20.7%) while Roche declined the most (19.1%).

(See the last pharma stock roundup here: FDA OK's Expanded Use of ABBV, MRK, NVS Drugs, Other Updates)

What's Next in the Pharma World?

Watch for regular pipeline and regulatory updates next week.

Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?

Our 5 best-performing strategies have blown away the S&P's impressive +28.8% gain in 2021. Amazingly, they soared +40.3%, +48.2%, +67.6%, +94.4%, and +95.3%. Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.

See Stocks Free >>

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com                       

https://www.zacks.com

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Sanofi (SNY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Novartis AG (NVS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research