Biotech Halozyme Therapeutics (HALO) jumped 16% early Tuesday, nearly touching an all-time high, a day after the company beat Q2 estimates and provided an update on its pipeline. Late Monday, Halozyme reported revenue of $43.4 million, up 136% from the year-earlier quarter and $18 million more than analysts expected. More than half the revenue came from a $23 million milestone payment from AbbVie (ABBV) in June. A partnership between the two
Big-cap biotech Biogen (BIIB) beat Q2 earnings estimates Friday, but it lowered its guidance and reported failure in a clinical trial, sending its stock plummeting. Meanwhile, big pharma AbbVie (ABBV) reported a steadier quarter and affirmed its guidance, but its stock was sliding after sales came up short. Biogen’s earnings, excluding one-time items, rose 21% over the year-earlier quarter to $4.22 a share, beating analysts’ consensus by 12 cents.
The new class of hepatitis C drugs, led by Gilead Sciences (GILD) and AbbVie (ABBV), has turned into one of the biggest success stories in biotech history. Yet hepatitis C is one of only five viruses that cause viral hepatitis. Do any of the others have such lucrative potential? One possibility is hepatitis B, which despite the existence of a vaccine infects even more people than hep C. The World Health Organization estimates that about 240