Oppenheimer Is Buying Alexion Pharma On Weakness

• Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ALXN has seen a 15.53 percent decline in its share price in the past three months.
• Oppenheimer’s Christopher Marai has maintained an Outperform rating and price target of $228 on the company.
• Marai believes that the weakness in the stock offers an attractive buying opportunity, given the revenue growth potential afforded by the soon to be launched Strensiq and Kanuma.

Analyst Christopher Marai believes that Strensiq and Kanuma represent low-risk opportunities for the company, which are expected to drive “above-consensus revenue growth over the next 12-18 months.”

The US approval for the two drugs is expected by year end 2015, with launch acceleration expected with 12-18 months, along with “further patient identification strategies driven by improved diagnosis due to treatment availability,” Marai said.

While the Strenisq launch would give Alexion Pharmaceuticals 110 patients by year end 2015, Marai expects the launch of Kanuma to provide 170 patients by year end 2016 in the US, with the addition of another 600 patients following the EU launch.

The next focus is expected SBC-103, which is “NAGLU enzyme replacement therapy for Sanfilippo-B, with heparan sulfate levels in CSF,” according to the Oppenheimer report. Data from the PhaseI/II trials for SBC-103 are expected in 2H15.

“We anticipate readouts from a mostly under-appreciated pipeline including 30-pre-clinical programs yielding upside in 2016 and beyond,” Marai stated, while adding that “any pricing pressure concerns are unwarranted.”