After a Breakout Year in 2021, Here’s Why Regeneron Stock Has Even More Upside
For the Millions of Americans That Have Been Infected With COVID-19, Few Therapeutics Have Been More Effective at Treating the Virus Than Regeneron’s Monoclonal Antibodies Cocktail
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ (NYSE: REGN) monoclonal antibodies cocktail REGEN-COV (casirivimab and imdevimab), which received emergency use authorization from the FDA in late 2020, has proven to be an extremely effective therapeutic for treating COVID-19. In fact, a recent study found that REGEN-COV could also be effective at preventing the virus, with the study showing that a single dose reduced the risk of contracting COVID-19 by 81.6%. Data from the late-stage trial also indicated that the antibody cocktail has the potential to provide long-lasting immunity from COVID infection of up to eight months.
A month prior to the drug’s emergency use approval, former President Donald Trump became one of the first to receive Regeneron’s then-experimental antibody cocktail as part of his treatment after he contracted COVID-19 during the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election. Trump credited Regeneron’s antibody cocktail as being one of the key reasons for his speedy recovery.
In his now-infamous video speech from the White House Rose Garden, the former POTUS said:
“I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president because I feel great. I feel, like, perfect.”
As part of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed, the Department of Defense (DOD) awarded Regeneron a $450 million contract to manufacture and distribute the treatment. The DOD agreement allowed Regeneron to rapidly roll out its medication to hospitals nationwide for administration to those most at risk of COVID-19. In September 2021, Regeneron was rewarded by the U.S. government with a new contract for 1.4 million doses of REGEN-COV, bringing the total number of doses purchased by the federal government to roughly 3 million.
Having its name in the spotlight thanks to REGEN-COV has done wonders for the stock price, which is up 40% since March, more than double the S&P 500 (INDEX: GSPC).
Of course, REGEN-COV is just one of many drugs being developed and marketed by Regeneron. Among their FDA-approved drugs currently available for prescription are treatments for autoinflammatory disorders, blindness in elderly patients, high cholesterol, eczema and some forms of cancer. Two of the company’s drugs experienced significant growth over the last year, with sales of EYLEA and Dupixent increasing by 12% and 55%, respectively.
Regeneron also has several medications under development, including some in the final stages of human trials. The company recently announced that its drug Dupixent had positive results across two different Phase 3 trials, one for treating Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria and pediatric atopic dermatitis, while the other is Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Prurigo Nodularis. Regeneron also announced that Dupixent received FDA approval as a prescription for children ages six and up.
Regeneron’s strong developmental pipeline, combined with its FDA-approved medications and REGEN-COV, has market analysts very bullish on the stock.
Leading investment bank SVB Leerink recently raised its price target on REGN stock from $798 to $850, which at the time of writing implies additional upside of over +29% above Regeneron’s current share price.
Shares of Regeneron closed trading today at $654.40, up +1.72% on the day. YTD REGN stock is up +35.63% and +26.91% over the past year.
