< The 2014 All-America Research TeamGeoffrey MeachamJ.P. MorganFirst-place appearances: 0
Total appearances: 8
Team debut: 2007J.P. Morgan’s Geoffrey Meacham, who captures second place on this list for a seventh year running, is “very knowledgeable about science and very close with the management teams,” attests one backer. Year to date through mid-September, U.S. biotechnology shares climbed 20.7 percent, against the 7.3 percent gain for the nation’s broad market, and Meacham is bullish on the group. “Looking forward, we have a positive bias on 2015,” he says, “given the significant growth in the sector for larger caps and product-oriented small and midcaps, as well as many small caps that have maturing pipelines.” As to specific names, he advises investors to overweight two Massachusetts-based players, Biogen Idec in Cambridge and Boston’s Vertex Pharmaceuticals. “For Biogen there is still a lot of upside to the current multiple sclerosis franchise, including Tecfidera,” explains the analyst. “But in 2015 there will also be data readouts on anti-Lingo, which is a critical element of the pipeline.” Anti-Lingo is an antibody that is in Phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of MS, with data expected in the first half of next year. “It has a mechanism of action that is very unique in MS and could drive significant value down the road if these trials show activity,” Meacham adds. Biogen was trading at $320.12 in mid-September, and he forecasts a rise to $400. Regarding Vertex, he says, “we believe that the cystic fibrosis franchise has more upside than the Street forecasts, especially given a potential launch in the first half of 2015 for the VX-809 and Kalydeco combo.” In June, Vertex released positive results from its Phase 3 clinical trials of Kalydeco, a prescription medicine used in combination with experimental drug Lumacaftor, or VX-809, to treat people with the most common mutation of cystic fibrosis. Meacham’s $130 target price for Vertex implies a 41.1 percent premium to the stock’s mid-September value.