What Happened?
Shares of biotech company Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) jumped 3.4% in the afternoon session after a European regulatory body recommended approving its drug, Uplizna, for treating a rare autoimmune disorder.
The European Medicines Agency's committee for human medicines backed the drug for adult patients with active immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD), a chronic condition that can cause tissue scarring. This positive opinion was a big step, as no authorized medicines currently exist in the EU for this ailment.
The recommendation rested on a strong Phase 3 trial involving 135 patients. The results showed that patients who received Uplizna had a much longer time before their disease flared up. In fact, nearly 59% of patients on Uplizna achieved complete remission without symptoms at 52 weeks, a stark contrast to just 22% of those who received a placebo. This news appeared to boost investor confidence in Amgen's drug pipeline.
The shares closed the day at $285.41, up 3.5% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Amgen’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 5 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 8 months ago when the stock gained 5.3% on the news that the company reported fourth-quarter results.
Amgen exceeded analysts' revenue expectations this quarter, and its full-year revenue guidance came in slightly higher than Wall Street's estimates.
On the other hand, its full-year EPS guidance slightly missed, and its EPS was in line with Wall Street's estimates. Overall, this quarter was mixed with better-than-anticipated sales but mediocre profitability. The market seemed to focus on the sales, and the stock traded up as a result.
Amgen is up 10.1% since the beginning of the year, but at $285.41 per share, it is still trading 15.4% below its 52-week high of $337.38 from September 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Amgen’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,174.
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