BMO Downgrades Amgen and BioNTech to Market Perform

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

The analyst Evan Seigerman cut Amgen's rating while maintaining a price target of $450. He stated that commercial execution is now the base case for the stock, as shares have risen 34% year-to-date, outperforming the broader S&P 500 and NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical indexes.

Amgen faces significant loss-of-exclusivity headwinds, with pressure visible on several key drugs. While MariTide offers a potentially differentiated profile with less frequent dosing, Phase 2 efficacy and tolerability data raise questions about its competitiveness against established therapies.

The Novartis announcement of its cholesterol drug pelacarsen failing in a closely watched study has lowered expectations for Amgen's experimental cholesterol drug olpasiran. JPMorgan analysts said the results lower expectations ahead of late-stage data expected in 2027 or early 2028, and that even if olpasiran shows a stronger signal than pelacarsen, its effect may not be clinically meaningful enough to translate to a significant commercial opportunity.

BMO also cut BioNTech to Market Perform from Outperform and lowered its price target to $105 from a prior level. The analyst cited stronger-than-expected erosion of COVID vaccine Comirnaty, a lack of de-risking data for cancer drug pumitamig until 2028, and reduced expectations for the company's mRNA-based iNeST program.