BMO Downgrades Amgen and BioNTech Amid Biopharma Industry Shifts

BMO Capital Markets has downgraded Amgen (AMGN) and BioNTech (BNTX) to Market Perform from Outperform, citing limited near-term upside and a more balanced risk-reward for biopharma companies.

The move was made by BMO analyst Evan Seigerman, who cut his rating on Amgen while maintaining a price target of $450. He noted that the company's shares have already risen 34% year-to-date, outperforming both the S&P 500 and the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical indexes.

Amgen continues to face significant loss-of-exclusivity headwinds, with pressure on multiple products including Prolia/XGEVA, Enbrel, Otezla, and Kyprolis. Seigerman said that while Amgen's obesity drug MariTide 'offers a potentially differentiated profile with less frequent dosing,' Phase 2 efficacy and tolerability data raise questions about its competitiveness against established injectable and oral therapies.

The analyst also highlighted the impact of Novartis' announcement that its cholesterol drug pelacarsen failed in a closely watched study, which has raised concerns about Amgen's experimental cholesterol drug olpasiran. JPMorgan analysts agreed that the failure lowers expectations for olpasiran ahead of late-stage data expected in 2027 or early 2028.