Goldman joins seven others in downgrading Biogen on Alzheimer's failure

Goldman Sachs analyst Terence Flynn downgraded Biogen to Neutral from Buy after the company announced plans to discontinue its global Phase 3 program for Alzheimer's drug candidate aducabumab. The analyst cut his price target for the shares to $286 from $419. Biogen in morning trading is down 28%, or $90.40, to $230.32. At least seven other Wall Street firms downgraded the shares this morning. Flynn now sees "puts and takes" with respect to the path forward for Biogen. While the company has a mid-stage central nervous system pipeline, the recently instituted inter partes review challenge of Tecfidera is likely to represent a more significant nearer term overhang, Flynn tells investors in a research note. In addition, the analyst expects the pipeline setback with aducabumab to increase the focus on Biogen to continue to be active on the acquisition and business development front. While the company has announced a number of early and mid-stage deals, today's development could cause it to also evaluate later-stage assets, says Flynn.