Swiss drug and diagnostics giant Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY)
is in a challenging position today. On one hand, this remains the
preeminent global oncology franchise with three incredible strong mature
drugs and a deep pipeline. Roche is also a strong player in several
diagnostics markets and has arguably done more than any other drug
company to advance the companion diagnostics concept. The other hand is
the uncertainty around the cash flow streams - many investors are
worried about the prospect of generic competition for those "Big Three"
oncology drugs, as well as the risk that Bristol-Myers (NYSE:BMY), Merck (NYSE:MRK), and AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) might not only beat Roche to the punch, but preclude the company from being a market share leader in oncology.
For
my part, I think the push-pull of the Street has these shares more or
less fairly priced. I'm content to own the fairly-priced shares of a
great company, and I think Roche is exactly that. What's more, I see
more potential to the upside from pipeline successes than downside risk
to failures and generic competition. That said, I will once again repeat
a complaint I've made multiple times regarding Roche - I'd like to see a
stronger pipeline and R&D effort outside of oncology.
Continue here:
Stronger First Quarter Sales Help Roche, But ASCO Probably Matters More
No comments:
Post a Comment