The pharmaceutical sector continues to be in great turmoil. After Wall Street on Friday Eli Lilly has won the podium as the first pharmaceutical company to reach the market capitalization level of 1 trillion dollars, today it is the German Bayer to catch the eye on the price lists: the title at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange rose to 2025 highs, with a 10,70% markup at 30,98 euros thanks to the drug Asundexian which reduces the risk of stroke.
The German pharmaceutical giant announced yesterday that it Phase 3 study Oceanic-Stroke “demonstrated the superiority of theAsundexian with antiplatelet therapy showing a significant reduction in the risk of ischemic stroke"without increasing the risk of major bleeding compared to placebo, Bayer said, in patients who had already suffered a stroke or similar blockage of the cerebral blood vessels. The study met its primary endpoints for both efficacy and safety.
Every year about 12 million people suffer a stroke, says Bayer, and for 20-30 percent it will be a recurrent strokeDespite available prevention options, the risk of secondary stroke remains high, and one in five stroke survivors will have another stroke within five years. Stroke is the second leading cause of death globally, and recurrent ischemic strokes tend to be more disabling and carry a higher risk of mortality than first strokes, the group states in its press release.
This is a turning point for the group, after it suffered a significant setback at the end of 2023 with the anticoagulant in a clinical trial conducted on a larger group of patients with atrial fibrillation, at risk of stroke but who had not yet had one. As the operators note, the new results represent a success for CEO Bill Anderson, which is reorganizing the management structure of the group, while trying to reduce the huge debt and to face the costly legal disputes over Roundup herbicide and contamination by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
The group intends to submit a marketing authorization application to health authorities worldwide after a series of discussions. As Bayer's press release emphasizes,
What analysts think
Positive results obtained by Bayer in the recent clinical study on the drug asundexian they are positive for the company, analysts say JP Morgan in a note. Nevertheless, analysts note that the detailed results and data of the competitors They are more indicative of the drug's role in the secondary stroke market, which refers to the treatment of a second stroke after a patient has already had a first stroke. Experts at the US bank recall that they had previously forecast the secondary stroke market to be worth approximately €3 billion. Amber maintained its recommendation on the stock unchanged at 'Neutral', with a price target of 30 euros. Goldman Sachs reiterated the 'Buy' with a reference price of 34,50 euros.
“The Asundexian results provide greater confidence that FXIa inhibition can lead to significant improvements in anticoagulation without compromising safety due to an increased risk of bleeding,” said Evan David Seigerman, analyst at BMO Capital MarketsIn early November, results from Bristol Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson raised doubts about this class of drugs. So much so that the partners halted a study of a competing drug, Milvexian, after it appeared unlikely to help patients suffering from a heart complication.
