Celgene Corporation (CELG) continued presenting data on its drugs/pipeline candidates at the annual conference of the American Society of Hematology.

Recently, data from an observational study revealed no significant difference in the risk of progression to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in patients treated with Revlimid compared to patients treated before Revlimid was available. The comparative study evaluated patients suffering from lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) with a deletion (5q) chromosome abnormality.

Furthermore, the study conducted by the Groupe Francophone Des Myelodysplasies (GFM), did not reveal any statistically significant difference in the survival patterns of the patients in the two arms. The GFM conducted the study following concerns voiced by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that some deletion 5q MDS patients treated with Revlimid may go on to be affected by AML.

Celgene also presented data from two mid-stage studies which evaluated the impact of Revlimid in conjunction with Roche's (RHHBY) rituximab in patients suffering from indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Celgene also revealed encouraging data on its pipeline cancer candidate, pomalidomide, at the medical conference.

We note that Revlimid is currently approved for MDS and second-line multiple myeloma (MM) and the company is seeking to expand its label into other indications. Celgene intends to file an application seeking marketing approval of Revlimid as a front-line treatment for MM in Europe shortly.

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.