Piper Jaffray analyst Joshua Schimmer says Biopharma stocks are selling off with some spinning the eight years of exclusivity for biologics as part of the Trans Pacific Partnership as a negative for the industry. The development is a "step forward," especially since it does not over-rule the 12 years' exclusivity for the drugs in the U.S., Schimmer tells investors in an intraday research note. While the sector asked for 12 years' exclusivity to match the U.S., eight years is a "reasonable compromise," the analyst argues. His top picks remain Alexion (ALXN), Celgene (CELG) and Amgen (AMGN) in the large-cap space, GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPH) and bluebird bio (BLUE) among mid-caps, and Flex Pharma (FLKS), Lion Biotechnologies (LBIO), Otonomy (OTIC) and Ignyta (RXDX) in the small-cap sector. Further, Schimmer writes that more names look "increasingly compelling" amid the selloff.

Amgen "provided an update regarding the results of the Phase 2a COURSE trial for TEZSPIRE(R) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, which were accepted for presentation in the Clinical Trials Symposium at The American Thoracic Society 2024 International Conference on Monday, May 20, from 9:15-11:15 a.m. PDT. We are encouraged by the results of the COURSE Phase 2a proof-of-concept trial, which investigated tezepelumab in moderate to very severe COPD patients, across a broad range of eosinophil levels, irrespective of inflammatory drivers, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and smoking status. This study did not exclude any patients based on their baseline eosinophil count (BEC) and intentionally enrolled patients with a broad range of BECs. Overall, tezepelumab numerically reduced the annualized rate of moderate or severe COPD exacerbations versus placebo by 17% (90% CI: -6, 36; p=0.1042). Of note, more reductions were observed in a prespecified subgroup of patients with BEC greater than or equal to150 cells/muL (37% [95% CI: 7, 57]). The trend in reduction was greater in a small number of subjects with BEC greater than or equal to300 cells/microL."