Regeneron Shares Fall Following BMO's Note Of Roche Preference

Shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals REGN are down three percent following BMO analyst Jim Birchenough's note of customers cost preference of Roche's Avastin. Birchenough remarked that there has been “broad reconsideration” of use of “low-cost” Avastin over Regeneron's Eylea by patients. The analyst noted that roughly 10 percent of Eylea patients at an investigator's clinic are being switched back to Avastin. BMO reported that there has been increased inquiry into brand anti-VEGF therapy over Avastin, with “brand therapy becoming harder to justify for stable patients with lower visual acuity.” Shares of Regeneron closed at $297.69 on Thursday. The stock fell as much as 5.1 percent to $282.52 in Friday's morning trading.