Oppenheimer Outperform On Amgen

Oppenheimer & Co. has an Outperform rating and a $66 price target on shares of Amgen (NASDAQ; AMGN). In a note to clients, Oppenheimer & Co. writes, "On 6/27, AMGN reported filing a sBLA for Xgeva for the prevention of bone mets (PBM) in castrate-resistant prostate cancer (PC). We believe a 6-mo. priority review is likely for Xgeva in PBM, and that compelling results from the ph. III '147 trial position the drug for US PBM approval later in 4Q11. We see the PBM indication as a significant driver of Xgeva sales growth and currently estimate 2015 PBM sales of ~$880M. We note that our current estimate may be conservative, given Xgeva's first mover advantage in PBM and a lack of near-term competition. We believe AMGN's current valuation appropriately anticipates Aranesp/Epogen sales erosion but inappropriately discounts Xgeva sales growth in SRE prevention/PBM." Shares of AMGN closed at $57.88, a gain of 84 cents.