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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Gilead Sciences, Amgen, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Celgene and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 1, 2018 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include Gilead Sciences (GILD - Free Report) , Amgen (AMGN - Free Report) , Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX - Free Report) , Celgene and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (REGN - Free Report) .

Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Biotech Stock Roundup: Celgene, Amgen, Vertex Impress in Q3

Earnings took center stage for the biotech sector this week, with quite a few bigwigs like Gilead Sciences, Amgen, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Celgene coming up with third-quarter results. Apart from these, regular pipeline updates and data read outs were also in the news.

Recap of the Week’s Top Stories:

Celgene, Vertex, Amgen Shine in Q3: The going has been good for the biotech bigwigs in the third quarter. Celgene topped both revenue and earnings estimates in Q3 and upped its guidance on a jump in psoriasis drug Otezla sales. Lead drug, Revlimid too maintained momentum for the company.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals topped both earnings and sales estimates in Q3 on strong cystic fibrosis (CF) product revenues. Amgen also surpassed earnings and sales estimates in Q3. Meanwhile, Gilead Sciences, Inc.’s third-quarter earnings beat estimates, but the year-over-year decline was disappointing as the magnitude of decline in hepatitis C virus (HCV) sales continues to deepen.

Alexion currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Regeneron’s Eylea Succeeds Diabetic Retinopathy Trial: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the phase III trial, PANORAMA, evaluating lead drug Eylea injection in patients suffering from moderately severe and severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) met its one-year (52-week) primary endpoint and key secondary endpoints. The data showed that every eight-week and every 16-week dosing groups met primary and key secondary endpoints at one year.  We note that the supplemental application for Eylea for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, based on previously announced 24-week results is currently under FDA review with an action date of May 13, 2019. 

Concurrently, Regeneron announced that the FDA issued a complete response letter (CRL) regarding the Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) Prior-Approval Supplement (PAS) for the Eylea pre-filled syringe. The FDA has requested additional information regarding manufacturing and supply processes and the completion of a usability study evaluating a single injection of the Eylea pre-filled syringe in approximately 30 patients. Regeneron plans to resubmit the PAS in early 2019 after collecting necessary information.

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