Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN), Sanofi SA (ADR) (SNY): Is This Biotech Slowing?

PCSK9 drugs won’t replace the generic, well-tolerated statins for most people. But about 10% of cholesterol patients have a statin intolerance. And statins tend not to work for patients with genetic cholesterol conditions such as heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, or heFH.

Mid-stage results were promising with heFH patients having an up to 68% drop in bad cholesterol levels compared to about 11% with placebo. General cholesterol patients taking the statin Lipitor had levels reduced by up to 72%.

Rival Amgen recently reported its second quarter and included an update on PCSK9 drug AMG 145. Pivotal data from the phase 3 trial should report in the first quarter of 2014, which puts it nearly parallel to Regeneron’s offering.

Phase 3 data will better show the potential of these drugs — and which company might pull ahead at market launch. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) has the smaller overall pipeline, but also boasts Sanofi as a backer. Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY)’s so happy with the partnership it purchased an increased stake earlier this year. And with its gloomy second quarter report rift with patent cliff losses, Sanofi needs a solid win as much as Regeneron.

Foolish final thoughts

Regeneron’s share price has increased nearly 90% in the past year. That’s not sustainable growth. We’re starting to see the deflation of the initial Eylea hype, but it will take a few years before the company has another big event to drive large price movements.

Brandy Betz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Brandy is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

The article Is This Biotech Slowing? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Brandy Betz.

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