Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AEGR), ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ISIS), BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN): Orphan Drug Makers – Robust Investment Opportunities

Competition

Juxtapid competes with ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISIS) Kynamro. Kynamro is the flagship product of ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISIS) which is being marketed by the drug giant Sanofi. Out of both, Juxtapid has the evident edge because it is taken orally while Kynamro has to be injected into the body. Moreover Juxtapid is said to have lesser side effects compared to its counterpart. But what impresses me about ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISIS) is that unlike Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEGR) it is not a one drug wonder. Instead it has a pipeline with over 28 different drugs out of which many are being worked on in collaboration with big names like GSK, Biogen and Sanofi. Most of these drugs would be available for treatment of various ailments in almost 4 to 5 years’ time. Which would obviously increase the revenues and profitability of the company. Thus I think that ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISIS) too is a solid investing opportunity.

Talking about orphan drugs and huge pipelines, take a look at another large cap company which deals in orphan drugs. BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN) develops and markets drugs for serious and rare diseases. The company has 3 approved orphan drugs in US and 1 approved only in the EU. The company also has a solid pipeline of more than 6 drugs into various phases of clinical trials and almost all of them have been granted the orphan status by FDA. The company is also pouring extensively into its research and development budget; in fact it spent about 60% of the company’s revenue on R&D last year. So this orphan drug maker is also on my list of the companies with exceptional growth potential.

Final review

All in all I would say that the future outlook for orphan drug makers is quite bright. Aegerion will surely experience an uplift in its revenues in the coming years through its prime product Juxtapid. This should induce it to spend more on R&D and work on other therapeutic areas. So I think that the projection of Needham is quite spot on. As far as ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISIS) and BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN) are concerned, the companies have huge product portfolios and are also stable enough to be trusted with your investment.

The article Orphan Drug Makers: Robust Investment Opportunities originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Muhammad Abdullah Khan.

Muhammad Abdullah Khan has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:BMRN). Muhammad is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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