Yahoo Finance Tecfidera Revenues Expected to Boost Biogen’s 2016 Valuations
Drugs That Could Boost Biogen's Valuations in 2016
Tecfidera revenues
Biogen Idec (BIIB) saw a sudden revenue decline for Tecfidera in 2015. But demand for the drug in the US market is expected to remain stable in 2016. In 2015, the drug was the most prescribed multiple sclerosis (or MS) therapy in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
There are 170,000 MS patients already being treated with Tecfidera. More growth opportunities are yet to be explored in the European market. Tecfidera is expected to be a major driver of Biogen’s (BIIB) valuations in 2016. To know more about the decline in Tecfidera’s revenues in 2015, please refer to Biogen’s Weak 2Q15 Tecfidera Performance Dampens Sentiment.
Wall Street analysts have projected that in 2016, revenues from sales of Tecfidera will reach about $3.9 billion. That’s a year-over-year (or YoY) growth of 9.4%. In 4Q15, Tecfidera witnessed stabilization in safety perceptions for the drug, which was further emphasized by a stable trend in physicians’ intent to prescribe the drug.
Biogen also expects to benefit from the launch of its aggressive marketing program for Tecfidera. More people have been visiting the company’s website. The company has also seen an increase in the number of calls to its patient services organization.
Tecfidera gives tough competition to other MS drugs such as Novartis’s (NVS) Gilenya, Sanofi’s (SNY) Aubagio through its subsidiary Genzyme, and Teva Pharmaceutical’s (TEVA) injectable MS drug that’s currently one of the leading MS drugs. To know more about Biogen’s marketing efforts for Tecfidera, please refer to Biogen Continues to Focus on Raising Tecfidera Sales in 3Q15.
European market
In 4Q15, Tecfidera witnessed solid sales in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. If this trend continues through the first half of 2016, it will help boost Biogen’s share price as well as its valuations.
The European Medicines Agency updated Tecfidera’s label to emphasize the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (or PML) associated with the drug and the precautionary measures to be taken by prescribing doctors. Biogen also has been active in training physicians in patient monitoring before prescribing Tecfidera.
If Tecfidera witnesses high revenue growth in Europe in 2016, it will help boost the company’s share price. It could also push up share prices of the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB). Biogen currently accounts for about 7.3% of IBB’s total portfolio holdings.
In the next part of this series, we’ll see how Tysabri could benefit Biogen’s 2016 valuations.
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