Several headwinds have pushed Regeneron's (REGN 0.05%) shares lower over the past year and a half. However, the company is bouncing back and has performed well in recent months. What's more, there are two key reasons to think there could be plenty more upside ahead.
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1. Moving past Eylea-related issues
Arguably, the biggest reason why Regeneron's shares dropped is that competition has intensified for Eylea, its medicine for wet age-related macular degeneration. Eylea's sales declined as a result. However, the biotech leader is overcoming these issues. The company's high-dose formulation of Eylea has now been on the market for about a couple of years.
Its biggest selling point is that it offers a better dosing schedule -- it can be administered once every eight to 16 weeks after an initial series of starter doses. The original version is typically administered every four to eight weeks following the starter doses. Recently, Regeneron announced that the Food and Drug Administration approved high-dose Eylea for macular edema following retinal vein occlusion, with a dosing schedule of once every eight weeks after an initial monthly dosing period.
The high-dose Eylea became the first FDA-approved treatment for RVO with this administration schedule, which should make it even more competitive against Vabysmo -- the competing medicine marketed by Roche -- and compensate for some of the losses due to biosimilar competition.
NASDAQ: REGN
Key Data Points
2. Exciting candidates
Approvals for newer products should also boost Regeneron's top-line growth. The company has a robust pipeline that should enable it to bring some new drugs to market in the next few years. Regeneron reported in August that one of its candidates, cemdisiran, performed well in phase 3 studies in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis, a chronic disease that causes muscle weakness. The company plans to submit regulatory applications for cemdisiran next year.
Meanwhile, Regeneron is developing therapies to help patients on GLP-1 drugs maintain muscle mass while losing weight. One, trevogrumab, performed well in phase 2 studies. Regeneron is also developing a gene therapy for hearing loss that has performed well in clinical trials so far. These candidates, along with others, should strengthen the company's lineup and enhance its financial results.
Investors may want to buy the dip
There are several other reasons to consider buying the stock. We have barely scratched the surface here. But the two discussed above address what may have been Regeneron's biggest problem since mid-2024. And as the biotech slowly puts that in the rear-view mirror, the company's shares -- trading well below the heights they reached then -- are attractive.
