What happened
Shares of Amylyx Pharmaceuticals (AMLX -1.12%) were up more than 10% at 9:40 a.m. ET on Monday after the biotech company received an analyst's upgrade. The stock is down more than 34% this year.
So what
Amylyx focuses on therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Its only approved therapy in the U.S. is Relyvrio (formerly AMX0035), to slow the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Relyvrio was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last September. The drug is also being examined as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease and Wolfram syndrome. Relyvrio is a combination of sodium phenylbutyrate and taurursodiol.
Goldman Sachs analyst Chris Shibutani upgraded his position on Amylyx from hold to strong buy on Monday and increased its price target from $45 to $49. Several other analysts already have strong buy ratings on the stock.
On June 23, the company said it will seek reexamination of the negative opinion on Albrioza (Relyvrio's name in Europe) regarding its Conditional Marketing Authorization Application by the European Medicines Agency.
Now what
The company is already profitable, and AMX0035 has been also been approved in Canada, so there's plenty of potential with Amylyx, regardless of what happens to its lead therapy in Europe. In the first quarter, the company reported that it had revenue of $71.4 million, up 226% year over year. It also reported net income of $1.6 million, or $0.02 in earnings per share (EPS), compared to a net income loss of $47.8 million or $0.93 in EPS loss in the same period last year.
