iQoncept
Buoyed by booming diabetes drug sales, Eli Lilly (New York Stock Exchange: LLY) was the best performer in big pharma or biotech in the first half of 2023, returning dazzling 28%.
Coming in at number two, Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), is buoyed by continued strong revenue from cystic fibrosis wallet, returned ~23%.
In third place was Denmark-based Novo Nordisk (NVS), which focuses on diabetes treatments. higher ~ 18%.
In the first half of the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) ended higher ~ 4%the S&P 500 (SPX) index is higher ~ 16%the Nasdaq Index (COMP.IND) is increase ~33%.
Sanofi (SNY) and Biogen (BIIB) were among the top 5 pharma and biotech performers in the first half of 2023.
Lilly’s (LLY) strong 2023 year is a result of the continued strong sales of its diabetes portfolio, including its newest treatment, Mounjaro (tirzepatide), which generated $568.5 million in sales in the first quarter alone. Sales of Trulicity, the company’s best-selling drug, were up 14% year-over-year to nearly $1.98 billion in the quarter.
Lilly is poised to make more gains in the second half. Besides a potential reference to Mounjaro as a weight loss treatment, it may also see donanemab approved for Alzheimer’s disease by the end of the year.
Also on June 26, the company reported strong results for its newest weight loss candidate, retatrutide.
The success of Vertex (VRTX) is a result of its cystic fibrosis portfolio, which dominates the market for this disease. The best-selling treatment for the condition, Trikafta (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor), also known as Kaftrio in the European Union, had sales of $2.1 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 19% over the same period last year.
While Company CF drugs are certainly engines of growth, Vertex (VRTX) is not resting on its laurels. A phase III study on VX-548 for the treatment of acute pain is expected to be completed by the end of the year and its partnership with CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) for an exa-cel gene therapy for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia could also reap profits in the near future.
Novo Nordisk (NVO), like Lilly (LLY), can attribute its good fortune to sales in its diabetes franchise. However, Novo (NVO) has another drug that has helped its success so far this year, the approved weight loss treatment Wegovy (semaglutide).
In the first quarter, Wegovy had sales of approximately DKK 4.6 billion (about 668.7 million USD), which represents a growth of 225% over the first quarter of 2022.
On the other end of the spectrum, Moderna (Nasdaq: mrna) and Pfizer (New York Stock Exchange: PFE), among the best performing stocks in 2022 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at the bottom of the pharmaceutical package in the first half, down, respectively, ~32% And ~28%.
Four of the five worst-performing pharma and biotech stocks in the first half of the year had significant investments in COVID-related vaccines or treatments. Coming in at third worst performing is Pfizer (PFE)’s COVID vaccine partner BioNTech (BNTX), down ~27%Novavax (NVAX), also known for its COVID shot, discount ~ 24%, It was the fifth worst performing drug or biotech.
Despite its poor performance in the first half, UBS recently promoted Moderna (MRNA) to buy citing its under-rated pipeline. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse recently downgraded Pfizer (PFE) to neutral, citing limited pipeline stimuli. However, Alpha contributor Nathan Eisenstadt recently argued that Pfizer’s future is bright given the drug and vaccine approvals received in 2023 so far.
member (New York Stock Exchange: OGN) ranked fourth as the worst performer, down ~26%, as Q1 results left a lot to be desired. However, things may get better for Merck Spinoff after its recent launch of Humira biosimilars.