Leerink analyst Paul Matteis said that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's denial of both of Kyle Bass' Inter Partes Review petitions against two of Acorda's (ACOR) patents was a significant positive surprise and it expects the stock to trade near $40 per share, which would be close to pre-IPR levels, following the decision. The firm, which likes the long-term potential of Acorda's pipeline, is cautious into a Markman hearing coming for the company in March and reiterates it Market Perform rating on Acorda shares. Matteis also believes the rejection of both Acorda challenges will lead investors to discount some of the risk from outstanding Bass IPRs against Biogen's (BIIB) Tecfidera, AbbVie (ABBV) and Janssen's (JNJ) Imbruvica, and Shire's (SHPG) Gattex and Lialda. Acorda shares are up nearly 22% to $35.25 in pre-market trading.

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Sees FY24: Skyrizi revenue $10.7B; Rinvoq revenue $5.6B; Imbruvica revenue $3.1B; Elahere revenue $450M. Sees FY24 adjusted gross margin 84%. Expects FX to have 0.9% impact on FY sales.

Says "successfully navigating" Humira loss of exclusivity. Says executing well across all aspects of the business. Says multiple growth drivers to support long term outlook. Says continues to advance R&D pipeline. Says well positioned to deliver high single digit revenue CAGR through end of decade. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

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RBC Capital lowered the firm's price target on Sage Therapeutics (SAGE) to $15 from $26 and keeps a Sector Perform rating on the shares after its Q1 earnings miss. The analyst also cites the company's limited additional detail on Zurzuvae launch relative to what was already provided by partner Biogen (BIIB), other than some prescription metrics. Sage's pipeline remains high-risk, though dalzanemdor may still have some shot in Huntington's Disease despite the recent Parkinson's Disease failure, the firm tells investors in a research note.

Global net revenues from the immunology portfolio were $5.371B, a decrease of 3.9 percent on a reported basis, or 3.1 percent on an operational basis, due to Humira biosimilar competition. Global Humira net revenues of $2.270 billion decreased 35.9 percent on a reported basis, or 35.2 percent on an operational basis. U.S. Humira net revenues were $1.771 billion, a decrease of 39.9 percent. Internationally, Humira net revenues were $499 million, a decrease of 15.8 percent on a reported basis, or 11.6 percent on an operational basis. Global Skyrizi net revenues were $2.008 billion, an increase of 47.6 percent on a reported basis, or 48.0 percent on an operational basis. Global Rinvoq net revenues were $1.093 billion, an increase of 59.3 percent on a reported basis, or 61.9 percent on an operational basis.

FY24 consensus $11.10.

Biogen announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency adopted a positive opinion for TOFIDENCE, a biosimilar monoclonal antibody referencing ROACTEMRA. The intravenous formulation of TOFIDENCE has been recommended for approval for the treatment of moderate to severely active rheumatoid arthritis, polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and COVID-19. The CHMP's positive opinion will now be referred to the European Commission, which will decide whether to grant marketing authorization for TOFIDENCE. If a marketing authorization is granted by the EC, TOFIDENCE will be an addition to the existing biosimilars portfolio of three widely prescribed anti-TNF biosimilars commercialized by Biogen in Europe: BENEPALI, IMRALDI and FLIXABI, offering an extension to the cost-effective treatment options with an additional mechanism of action. "The positive CHMP recommendation for TOFIDENCE marks another positive step toward helping more people with inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions gain access to leading therapies," said Ian Henshaw, Global Head of Biosimilars at Biogen. "Positive CHMP recommendation for TOFIDENCE is testament to our continuing efforts to develop and deliver high-quality and proven biologic medicines to more patients, healthcare providers and healthcare systems in Europe."

Notable companies reporting before tomorrow's open, with earnings consensus, include Exxon Mobil (XOM), consensus $2.20... Chevron (CVX), consensus $2.87... AbbVie (ABBV), consensus $2.23... HCA Healthcare (HCA), consensus $5.01... Colgate-Palmolive (CL), consensus 81c... Charter (CHTR), consensus $7.92... AutoNation (AN), consensus $4.27.

Wedbush analyst Laura Chico raised the firm's price target on Biogen to $215 from $213 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. It remains early days for newly launching products like Skyclarys, Leqembi and Zurzuvae, the firm notes. That being said, it is encouraging to start to see revenue growth for Leqembi and continued growth for Skyclarys. Wedbush continues to see a gap between the newly launching products and earlier-stage development programs that will need to be addressed. However, larger-scale BD deals are likely easier to complete in 2025.

AbbVie announced positive topline results from LEVEL UP, an open-label, efficacy assessor-blinded head-to-head Phase 3b/4 study that evaluated the efficacy and safety of upadacitinib versus dupilumab in adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis who had an inadequate response to systemic therapy or when use of those therapies was inadvisable. In the LEVEL UP study, upadacitinib showed superior efficacy versus dupilumab in the primary endpoint, demonstrating that a significantly higher proportion of patients simultaneously achieved both a 90% or greater reduction in Eczema Area and Severity Index and a Worst Pruritus Numerical Rating Scale of 0 or 1 at Week 16.