Eagle Pharmaceuticals, inc. (EGRX)

[scott2987]

mizuho - from yahoo finance

http://www.investors.com/news/technology/eagle-pharma-downgraded-on-challenging-hospital-environment/?ven=YahooCP&src=AURLLED&ven=yahoo

njectable-drug specialist Eagle Pharmaceuticals (EGRX) stock was down sharply Monday after it got a downgrade from Mizuho saying that its thesis had played out.

Eagle stock jumped 28% on June 10 when Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA) won a patent case against several generic drugmakers, including Pfizer's (PFE) Hospira unit and Sagent Pharmaceuticals (SGNT), that were trying to launch generic versions of its blood-cancer drug Treanda. In January, Teva and Eagle launched a low-volume, faster-acting version of Treanda called Bendeka, which it says it expects to replace Treanda on the market eventually.

Mizuho analyst Irina Koffler wrote in her research note that she expects the companies to retain market exclusivity for Bendeka until 2019, but she said other catalysts might be slow in coming.

"The Treanda/Bendeka switch is a genuine success story for Eagle, but its other hospital launches like Ryanodex and Docetaxel have been more challenging," Koffler wrote as she downgraded the stock to neutral from buy. "We are reminded that cost is still critical within this setting, and this insight has influenced our longer-term outlook on Bendeka and the rest of Eagle's portfolio."

Koffler noted that Eagle is preparing to file for approval of a version of Eli Lilly's (LLY) lung-cancer drug Alimta, which is altered in a way similar to Bendeka's reformulation of Treanda, but she doubted that it will be as lucrative as the Teva deal.
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"We are concerned about competition from other 505(b)(2) filers like Allergan (AGN), who has already launched this type of product in EU," she wrote. "For this reason, we think that replicating a Bendeka-like agreement could be challenging here."

Eagle turned its first annual profit last year, of 16 cents a share, which analysts expect to jump to $4.56 this year with the help of the Bendeka launch. The stock nonetheless has a single-digit Relative Strength Rating, and it was down 12% in afternoon trading on the stock market today, under 40.