December 2024 seems to be the month of skepticism for Biogen Inc (BIIB, Financial), as this biotechnology company focusing on neurological and neurodegenerative diseases has received multiple downgrades from analysts this month on numerous reasons.
This month, investment company Jeffries lowered their price target for Biogen from $250 to $180 and downgraded the stock to Hold from initially Buy rating. Jeffries stated that they concerned over modest sales growth, a lackluster pipeline, and massive revenue declines outlook in the next 5 years.
Biogen is now relying on royalties from Ocrevus and the contribution from that could reduce up to 50% by 2030 due to biosimilar competition, potentially imposing a 20-30% reduction to Biogen's total revenue.
BMO Capital also said that they expect slower revenue growth for Biogen's Alzheimer drug Leqembi, weaker growth in its rare disease pipeline and decline in multiple sclerosis drug sales. Thus, cut their price target to $164 only and downgraded Biogen to “market perform” or “Hold” from initially “outperform”.
In another report this month also, investment company Stifel Nicolaus also downgraded Biogen to Hold and lowered their price target for Biogen to $175. Same story for BofA that reinstated its coverage in December with
a Neutral rating for Biogen with price target of $178.
Biogen Current Condition
Biogen's Alzheimer's drug Leqembi has been FDA-approved but the adoption is relatively slow as only about 2,000 patients in the U.S. that used Leqembi in the seven months following the approval.
Patients need to undergo several tests like brain scans or spinal taps before they can access the Alzheimer drug. The complicated process prior to the drug use makes the drug adoption slow and therefore it is hard to project the revenue growth from this newly approved Alzheimer drug Leqembi.
Analysts see no catalysts for Biogen in near future, but the downside is limited, so Biogen is still worth tracking.
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