Latest news with #BristolMyers
Globe and Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Bristol Myers Gains 6.3% in a Month: Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?
Bristol Myers ( BMY ) delivered an impressive performance in the past month after being under pressure for quite some time. The stock regained some of its lost ground and added 6.3% in a month compared with the industry 's gain of 3.9%. BMY stock has also outperformed the sector and the S&P 500 during this period. While pipeline setbacks and generic competition continue to weigh on the shares, investors are pinning hopes on newer drugs and their label expansions to drive growth. BMY Outperforms Industry, Sector & S&P 500 Index The stock was previously under pressure, reflecting broader market concerns even though the annual guidance was raised with the first-quarter results. Let us analyze Bristol Myers' fundamentals in such a scenario to make a prudent investment choice. BMY's Newer Drugs Stabilize Revenue Base BMY is relying on newer drugs, such as Opdualag, Reblozyl and Breyanzi, to stabilize its revenue base as its legacy drugs face generic competition. Thalassemia drug Reblozyl, for which BMY has a collaboration agreement with Merck ( MRK ), has delivered a stellar performance since its approval, driven by strong growth in the first and second-line treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)-associated anemia. Revenue growth for the leading immuno-oncology drug, Opdivo, has been solid, driven primarily by volume growth. The FDA had earlier granted approval to OpdivoQvantig (nivolumab and hyaluronidase-nvhy) injection for subcutaneous use. The recent label expansions of the drug should further boost sales. Sales of CAR T cell therapy, Breyanzi, also continue to gain traction from the approval of new indications and expanded manufacturing capacity. Camzyos has also witnessed strong global uptake in obstructive HCM. The FDA has recently accepted the company's supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for psoriasis drug Sotyktu (deucravacitinib) for review. The sNDA is seeking approval of the drug for the treatment of adults with active psoriatic arthritis. A decision from the regulatory body is expected in March 2026. The European Medicines Agency has also validated Bristol Myers Squibb's Type II variation application to expand the indication for Sotyktu to include this disease. BMY had earlier won FDA approval for xanomeline and trospium chloride (formerly KarXT), an oral medication for the treatment of schizophrenia, in adults, under the brand name Cobenfy. The approval broadens BMY's portfolio. Cobenfy represents the first new pharmacological approach to treating schizophrenia in decades. This drug is expected to contribute meaningfully to BMY's top line in the coming years. The recent collaboration agreement with BioNTech ( BNTX ) has strengthened BMY's pipeline. Both companies have entered into an agreement for the global co-development and co-commercialization of BioNTech's investigational bispecific antibody BNT327 across numerous solid tumor types. Developing bispecific antibodies that target two proteins, namely PD-1 and VEGF, has lately been one of the lucrative areas in cancer treatment. BNT327, a next-generation bispecific antibody candidate, targets PD-L1 and VEGF-A. Generic Competition for BMY's Top Drugs: A Headwind While BMY is progressing with its growth portfolio, its legacy portfolio is being adversely impacted due to continued generic impact on Revlimid, Pomalyst, Sprycel and Abraxane, as well as the U.S. Medicare Part D redesign effect. Among these, blood thinner medicine Eliquis, for which BMY has a worldwide co-development and co-commercialization agreement with pharma giant Pfizer ( PFE ), is the biggest contributor to the top line. Eliquis sales were down 4% in the first quarter due to the impact of Medicare Part D redesign in the United States. The company expects sales to steadily increase in the second half of 2025 due to the elimination of the coverage gap. Pipeline Setbacks Weigh on BMY Stock BMY recently announced that the phase III study INDEPENDENCE on Reblozyl did not meet its primary endpoint. The study was evaluating Reblozyl with concomitant janus kinase inhibitor therapy in adult patients with myelofibrosis-associated anemia receiving RBC transfusions. The study did not meet its primary endpoint of RBC transfusion independence during any consecutive 12-week period, starting within the first 24 weeks of treatment, compared to placebo. Patients saw a numerical and clinically meaningful improvement in RBC transfusion independence favoring Reblozyl, in line with previous results from the phase II study. Several important secondary measures also showed a clinically meaningful benefit favoring Reblozyl. Nonetheless, BMY plans to engage with the FDA and EMA to discuss the submission of marketing applications. Earlier, the late-stage ODYSSEY-HCM study, evaluating cardiovascular drug Camzyos for the treatment of adult patients with symptomatic New York Heart Association ('NYHA') class II-III non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, did not meet its dual primary endpoints. The top-line results from the phase III ARISE study on schizophrenia drug Cobenfy were also disappointing. The study is evaluating the efficacy and safety of the drug as an adjunctive treatment to atypical antipsychotics in adults with inadequately controlled symptoms of schizophrenia. Investors will be concerned about these setbacks as BMY is depending on these drugs to move forward. BMY's Valuation and Estimate Revision From a valuation standpoint, BMY is trading at a discount to the large-cap pharma industry. Going by the price/earnings ratio, BMY's shares currently trade at 7.93x forward earnings, lower than its mean of 8.51x and the large-cap pharma industry's 15.26X. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS has moved down to $6.37 from $6.89 in the past 60 days and that for 2026 has declined 6 cents. BMY's Estimate Movement Stay Invested in BMY Stock Drugs like Reblozyl, Breyanzi, Camzyos and Opdualag have enabled BMY to stabilize its revenue base amid generic competition for its legacy drugs. Approval of additional new drugs and label expansion of top drugs should further diversify its pipeline. While the recent rally offers hope for a turnaround, generic competition is a major headwind for the company and the new drugs will take some time to offset this steep decline. We recommend prospective investors to wait and watch for the time being. For investors already owning the stock, staying invested would be a prudent move. The company's attractive dividend yield (5.16%) is a strong reason for existing investors to stay invested. BMY currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops." Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.5% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >> 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 Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMY): Free Stock Analysis Report Pfizer Inc. (PFE): Free Stock Analysis Report Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK): Free Stock Analysis Report BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (BNTX): Free Stock Analysis Report
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Roche considering selling drugs directly to US patients, CEO says
By Bhanvi Satija and Maggie Fick LONDON (Reuters) -Roche is considering selling its prescription medicines in the U.S. directly to consumers to lower costs for patients as part of talks with the U.S. government, which is pressuring drugmakers to cut prices, Roche's CEO said on Thursday. A direct-to-consumer (DTC) model would work for all of the Swiss company's medicines, CEO Thomas Schinecker said on a call with reporters, without detailing how the scheme might work. U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in May directing drugmakers to lower medicine prices to align with what other countries pay. Last week, Bristol Myers and Pfizer said they would begin selling their blockbuster blood thinner, Eliquis, directly to cash-paying U.S. patients at a discount. Typically, U.S. drug prices are shaped by complex negotiations involving pharmacy benefit managers that act as middlemen between drugmakers and consumers. They negotiate volume discounts and fees with drugmakers on behalf of employers and health plans, create lists of drugs that are covered by insurance, and reimburse pharmacies for prescriptions. The system has often been criticised for inflating costs. An industry source told Reuters on Wednesday that the most viable DTC candidates were small-molecule drugs dispensed at retail pharmacies - such as treatments for diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, or respiratory diseases like asthma - because they are simpler to distribute and price directly for patients compared to complex medicines, such as some cancer drugs, which often require special handling and injection. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk already offer their popular weight-loss drugs Zepbound and Wegovy directly to U.S. patients for rates below the drugs' list prices. Lilly's chief financial officer, Lucas Montarce, said at an industry conference last month that the company had shared details of how it implemented its DTC model with the Trump administration. Schinecker said a DTC model would help lower costs in the U.S. quickly by cutting out pharmacy benefit managers. The model could appeal not only to the uninsured or under-insured, but also to insured patients comparing the cost of accessing drugs through insurers with cash prices, the industry source said. For example, if a patient was required to pay $20 to an insurer for a drug with a list price of $100, a DTC offer would need to beat that to be attractive. Roche has also increased inventories to avoid potential disruptions from tariffs, Schinecker said. The company announced in April plans to invest $50 billion in the U.S. over the next five years. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Globe and Mail
7 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Here's What to Expect From Pfizer's Non-Oncology Drugs in Q2 Earnings
Pfizer PFE is due to report second-quarter results on Aug. 5. All eyes will be on sales of Pfizer's oncology drugs, which account for around 25% of the company's total revenues. Pfizer's key oncology drugs are Ibrance, Xtandi, Lorbrena, Braftovi/Mektovi, as well as antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs added from the Seagen acquisition in 2023, like Padcev. Pfizer boasts a strong presence in other areas like internal medicine, vaccines, inflammation & immunology and rare disease, among others. Other than the Oncology segment, it operates through the Primary Care and Specialty Care segments. Let's discuss how the drugs in these two non-oncology segments are expected to perform in the second quarter. In Primary Care, alliance revenues and direct sales from Bristol-Myers BMY -partnered Eliquis are likely to have declined due to Inflation Reduction Act or IRA-driven lower pricing, which will partially offset the benefit from higher demand. Sales of key vaccine Prevnar are also expected to have declined due to lower sales in international markets. Pfizer records direct sales and alliance revenues from its partner, BioNTech BNTX, for its COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty. Revenues from Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID vaccine, Comirnaty, rose in the first quarter due to higher revenues in the United States (due to lower expected returns and higher market share) and higher contractual deliveries in some ex-U.S. markets. It remains to be seen if the improved trend continued in the second quarter of 2025. However, sales of its antiviral pill for COVID, Paxlovid, are likely to have declined due to lower infection rates. Among the newer products, while sales of Nurtec ODT/Vydura are likely to have risen, those of RSV vaccine, Abrysvo, are expected to have continued to decline due to limited recommendations for RSV vaccinations issued by the US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. In the Specialty Care unit, while sales of Vyndaqel are likely to have remained strong, driven by continued demand growth, sales of Xeljanz and Enbrel are likely to have declined. PFE's Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates Pfizer's stock has declined 1.8% so far this year compared with a decrease of 1.3% for the industry. From a valuation standpoint, Pfizer appears attractive relative to the industry and is trading below its 5-year mean. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company's shares currently trade at 8.20 forward earnings, lower than 14.60 for the industry and the stock's 5-year mean of 10.85. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings has declined from $3.06 per share to $3.05 per share, while that for 2026 has gone down from $3.09 to $3.08 per share over the past 60 days. Pfizer has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the coming year. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +112%, +171%, +209% and +232%. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >> 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 Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMY): Free Stock Analysis Report Pfizer Inc. (PFE): Free Stock Analysis Report BioNTech SE Sponsored ADR (BNTX): Free Stock Analysis Report
CNBC
17-07-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Bristol Myers goes direct-to-consumer on one of its blockbuster drugs. Here's our take
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. Market moves: Stocks were higher Thursday as the market continued to make its way through second quarter earnings season. Gains in the technology and industrials sectors were lifting the S & P 500 , while real estate and health care weighed on the index. Job cuts: Amazon cut jobs at its Amazon Web Services cloud computing division, the company confirmed on Thursday. The size and scope of the layoffs were unclear, but workforce reductions could help support margins in the quarters ahead. We're not concerned that this is a warning sign around slowing demand – it's about the company trying to get more efficient. If AI played a role in this, it speaks to the discussion we had on Wednesday's Morning Meeting about how large tech companies — like Dell , Amazon, and Microsoft — have embraced AI and are seeing their operating expenses as a percentage of sales drop, according to Melius Research. The ability to do more with fewer employees is positive for earnings leverage in the years ahead. DTC drugs: Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer announced on Thursday that they will begin selling the blood-thinning medication Eliquis directly to patients through their Eliquis 360 support program at a 40% discount to the current list price. Eliquis is one of Bristol-Myers' top-selling drugs. Analysts expect the medication will generate about $14.3 billion of the company's total $46.2 billion of revenue this year. However, Bristol Myers labels the drug as part of its "legacy portfolio" and not its "growth portfolio" since it is expected to face generic competition in the United States in a few years. Importantly, analysts at Leerink do not believe the discount will be a net pricing headwind for either Bristol Myers or Pfizer, as the drug is already heavily rebated to pharmacy benefit managers. The drug companies can circumvent the middlemen with these programs, which is why Bristol Myers' stock isn't lower on this news. Also, selling directly to patients at a lower price should help pharma companies gain much-needed favor with the Trump Administration, especially with the threat of drug pricing reform and tariffs looming. However, we're not going to be buyers of Bristol Myers on this news. We're waiting to make our next decision on the stock until we see the Phase 3 readout of Cobenfy for Alzheimer's psychosis. The data is due sometime in the late third quarter or early fourth quarter, and it will be a make-or-break moment for our thesis. We're hopeful for a successful trial, but we lost a lot of conviction in Cobenfy following its disappointing Phase 3 trial as an adjunctive treatment to atypical antipsychotics in adults with schizophrenia. Up next: Netflix and Interactive Brokers report earnings after Thursday's closing bell. On Friday morning, it's quarterly results from American Express , Charles Schwab , and 3M . We'll be paying most attention to the American Express results as they will provide a read-through into Capital One ahead of its results next week. The 3M quarter is a read-through into DuPont and parts of Honeywell . Friday's economic data includes June housing starts and a preliminary read on the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey, which also provides participants' 1-year inflation expectations. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long AMZN, MSFT, BMY, COF, DD, HON. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Reuters
17-07-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Bristol Myers, Pfizer to sell blood thinner Eliquis directly to US patients
July 17 (Reuters) - Bristol Myers (BMY.N), opens new tab and Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab said on Thursday they will start selling their blockbuster blood thinner, Eliquis, directly to cash-paying U.S. patients at a discount to its listed price as drugmakers are under pressure from the Trump administration to lower prices. The initiative is targeted at the small percentage of patients on Eliquis who are uninsured or underinsured, and health pricing experts cautioned that the discounted price might still be too high for many of those consumers. The program - which would bypass traditional pharmacy benefit managers and insurers - offers a roughly 43% discount from the list price, cutting the treatment's monthly cost from around $606 to $346. But it would still cost more than 9 times the average out-of-pocket cost paid by commercially insured patients. The new discounted price is also significantly higher than the $231 per month Medicare price that former President Joe Biden's administration negotiated under the Inflation Reduction Act, which is set to take effect next year, and the price of the drug abroad. "This discount is not as meaningful as that delivered through the IRA negotiations - those discounts have been ridiculed by Trump as not meaningful, so there's potential for skepticism from the administration on this offer," Bernstein analyst Courtney Breen said in a note. The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to tackle high U.S. prescription drug prices through a "most-favored-nation" (MFN) policy, aiming to align domestic prices with the lowest levels paid by comparable high-income countries. According to a 2024 report from the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, the cost of Eliquis was around $55 a month in France and $65 a month in the UK and Germany. "These prices aren't really a good deal for most consumers," Stacie Dusetzina, professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said, adding that patients without health insurance are generally less able to shoulder high out-of-pocket costs for drugs than those who are insured. "We know that once patients have to pay more than $100 out-of-pocket, they are much more likely not to fill their prescriptions," she added. Eligible patients will be able to buy the drug directly through the Eliquis 360 Support program from September 8. Since its launch, Eliquis has been prescribed to over 15 million Americans and in 2024 it generated about $11.4 billion in global revenue.
