NEW YORK—Shares of Irish drug maker Elan Corp. PLC hit a six-year high Monday as one analyst predicted success for its Alzheimer's disease treatment bapineuzumab, and another voiced skepticism about a rival drug.
Goldman Sachs analyst Stephen McGarry made Elan stock a Conviction Buy, and raised his six-month price target to $45 per share from $34.20. He expects the company to share complete data from a mid-stage trial of bapineuzumab later this month, and said it could lift the stock.
Elan and U.S. partner Wyeth released early data from that trial on Tuesday. The results showed that patients lacking a certain gene may benefit from the drug, which is designed to prevent a compound called beta-amyloid 42 from forming plaques that can inhibit thinking and memory.
Between 40 and 70 percent of Alzheimer's patients may lack that gene.
McGarry added that the drug could be effective as a preventative treatment for Alzheimer's in addition to treating the disease itself.
Shares gained $1.37, or 4.2 percent, to $34.32 and earlier in the session peaked at $35.50. That was their highest price since January 2002. Elan stock trades as ADRs, or American Depositary Receipts, which are securities that allow U.S. investors to trade shares of companies based overseas.
Analyst Ian Sanderson of Cowen and Co. was less optimistic about a drug candidate from Myriad Genetics Corp. called Flurizan. He said Myriad should report the results of a late trial of Flurizan this week, but he does not think the drug will be clinically effective against the disease.
Sanderson said there is a less than 20 percent chance of Flurizan reaching the goals of the trial, and he does not think a separate, international trial will be successful either.
Myriad stock dipped $1.22, or 2.4 percent, to $48.80. Since Wyeth and Elan reported the trial data for bapineuzumab, the shares have gained 10.3 percent.
Wyeth stock added 31 cents to $48.16.
