Amgen Downgraded Amid Cholesterol Market Uncertainty

Investment firm BMO Capital has downgraded Amgen's stock from 'Outperform' to 'Market Perform' following Novartis' clinical trial failure for its cholesterol drug, pelacarsen. This trial aimed to reduce cardiovascular events by lowering the harmful cholesterol Lp(a), but it failed to achieve this goal.

The late-stage Phase III trial results raise uncertainty about Amgen's own olpasiran, which targets the same high Lp(a) cholesterol market. As a result, Amgen shares dropped 5% in response to the news, although they have still gained 36.3% year-to-date.

The downgrade signals cautious investor sentiment amid increased risks for this multi-billion dollar drug market segment.