Hana Securities on the 26th gave a positive assessment of the exclusive license agreement for a subcutaneous (SC) formulation that Alteogen signed with U.S. drugmaker Biogen. It maintained a Buy rating and a target price of 5.8 million won. Alteogen's previous closing price was 358,500 won.
Previously, Alteogen said it signed an exclusive license agreement with Biogen International GmbH, a subsidiary of Biogen, to develop and commercialize SC formulations for two biologics. The total deal value is about 867.5 billion won, consisting of about 30 billion won in upfront payment and about 837.5 billion won in milestones.
Kim Seon-a, a Hana Securities analyst, said, "With this deal, only the upfront payment of about 59.5 billion won will be received as of the point passing the first quarter," and added, "Royalty terms may be disappointing, but the company is keeping its promise to steadily sign deals with new customers."
The analyst saw a high likelihood that the drugs covered by the deal are the immune disease treatments Dapirolizumab pegol (DZP) and Felzartamab. The analyst said, "Both drugs are progressing smoothly in phase 3 trials, and development is underway to convert the intravenous (IV) formulations to subcutaneous injections," adding, "Biogen has cited them as core pipelines, so the probability of a deal is high."
The analyst also added that several positives remain this year. Kim Seon-a said, "There is a high possibility of continued surprises related to new contracts going forward," pointing to specific catalysts such as ▲ U.S. reimbursement code (J-code) taking effect in April ▲ confirmation of whether prescriptions of the Keytruda SC formulation (Keytruda Qlex) are increasing (mid-May) ▲ whether the option contract signed on Dec. 26 last year will be converted to a main contract ▲ the result of the first PGR decision scheduled for June 2.
Regarding the ongoing patent dispute with Halozyme, the analyst maintained a positive outlook, saying, "The current course of the dispute still favors Merck (MSD), and proposals for collaboration from global big pharmas continue."