Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (INO), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALNY): This Week in Biotech

Finally, on Friday, shares of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) shot higher on a report from Bloomberg that Roche Holding Ltd. (VTX:ROG) was gathering funding for an attempted bid for Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN). This isn’t the first time Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) has been a rumored buyout candidate, and it may not be the last. The company’s only FDA approved drug is Soliris, the most expensive drug in the world, which is a therapy designed to treat rare diseases with little to no competition. Although orphan diseases do offer the allure of high drug prices and little competition, I’d rather keep my distance from Alexion here considering that it’s valued at $22.3 billion and is valued at more than six times the peak sales estimate of $3.5 billion from Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN).

The article This Week in Biotech originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Sean Williams.

Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.The Motley Fool owns shares of, and recommends, Johnson & Johnson.

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