Positive Data on Celgene Drugs - Analyst Blog

Recently, Celgene Corporation (CELG) presented encouraging data on its cancer drugs Revlimid and Istodax at the annual conference of the American Society of Hematology.

The company's key growth engine Revlimid, currently approved for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and second-line multiple myeloma (MM), fared well as a combination therapy in a late-stage study carried out on patients suffering from high-risk asymptomatic smoldering MM. Results revealed that treatment with Revlimid and dexamethasone extended the time to disease progression. Revlimid is not yet approved for the above indication.

Furthermore, Celgene, which is looking to expand Revlimid's label into other indications, presented encouraging data from two studies which evaluated the efficacy of Revlimid in patients suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Results from the first study, which evaluated Revlimid as a first-line consolidation therapy in patients revealed that 91% patients were alive after a median follow-up of 21 months. The second study which evaluated Revlimid in conjunction with Roche's (RHHBY) Rituximab in patients suffering from relapsed or refractory CLL revealed an overall response rate of 63%.

Data from another late-stage study revealed that treatment with Revlimid on a daily basis of MM patients after an autologous stem cell transplant reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 60% compared to placebo. Moreover, patients in the Revlimid arm survived for 42.3 months without the disease progressing as against 21.8 months for patients treated with placebo.

Data from a mid-stage study, evaluating Celgene's Istodax in patients suffering from peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) revealed that 13% patients achieved a complete response on being treated with the candidate.

Our Recommendation

We upgraded Celgene to ‘Outperform' last month based on its strong third quarter 2010 showing, strong cancer portfolio, robust pipeline and efforts to strengthen its portfolio further.  The efforts are reflected by the acquisitions of Gloucester Pharmaceuticals and Abraxis BioScience this year. Our long-term ‘Outperform' stance on the stock is supported by the Zacks #2 Rank (short-term ‘Buy' recommendation) carried by the company.