Amgen Has A Big Launch Coming Up

RBC Capital Markets expects Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) to "generally grind higher" in the next few months as the company waits on approval of a key cardiovascular drug – PCSK-9. While approval for PCSK-9 is not expected to come until July, Amgen, in the meantime, will be building up a new treatment for chronic heart failure, Corlanor. RBC Capital estimated that Corlanor, which is already distributed in Europe, will net Amgen $300 to $500 million annually during its peak.

Longer term, RBC Capital expects Corlanor to offer Amgen's PCSK-9 "marketing synergy" given that the "salesforce has already been built and trained."

Amgen recently traded at $166.87. The stock has gained 5 percent year-to-date and is up 45 percent in the prior 52 weeks.

RBC outlined four other factors that should support Amgen's price into the future:

• There is a "growing buzz of low-cost optionality on the chance there is a partial or full injunction against a competitor." Or, RBC said, there is the possibility of a royalty – against a backdrop where the market expects nothing will happen.
• Both PCSK-9 drugs will get approved, according to RBC predictions. RBC also outlined that the launch will be "modest," matching Wall Street expectations.
• Amgen's pipeline deserves more love, RBC argued. The analysts predicted that "the pipeline will get more credit over time from PCSK-9" to its psoriasis drug that will launch next year, and its migraine and osteoporosis drugs as well.
• RBC also weighed in on Amgen's biosimilars, noting that the drugs are "a great hedge" that is not yet in consensus.