Keith Speights, David Jagielski, and Prosper Junior Bakiny, The Motley Fool
6 min read
In This Article:
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Alnylam Pharmaceuticals has had a lot of excitement this year, with more good news potentially on the way.
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Axsome Therapeutics should have plenty of upside left, thanks in large part to its depression drug Auvelity.
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Summit Therapeutics could keep its momentum going with positive clinical results for cancer drug ivonescimab.
Many investors love the "big mo." That's short for "big momentum." Stocks that are on a roll often keep the good times going.
Three Fool.com contributors think they've found high-flying biotech stocks that could soar even more. Here's why they picked Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNY), Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AXSM), and Summit Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SMMT).
Keith Speights (Alnylam Pharmaceuticals): In her comments during Alnylam Pharmaceuticals' first-quarter update, CEO Yvonne Greenstreet said, "2025 is off to a remarkable start." She was exactly right.
Alnylam's share price has jumped close to 23% year to date. The stock has almost doubled over the last 12 months. Alnylam reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth in Q1, driven largely by its U.S. transthyretin amyloidosis franchise.
On March 20, 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Alnylam's Amvuttra in treating cardiomyopathy of wild-type or hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR-CM). Only two days earlier, Sanofi won FDA approval of Qfitlia for treating hemophilia. Alnylam licensed the drug to Sanofi and stands to receive tiered royalties of 10% to 15% on all sales.
Amvuttra captured roughly 70% of new patient starts in Q1 despite only receiving a thumbs-up from the FDA late in the quarter. Alnylam expects the drug's U.S. momentum to build in the second half of 2025. It also hopes to win approvals in Japan in Q2 and in the European Union in Q3. Analysts think Amvuttra will become a huge blockbuster drug for Alnylam, with peak annual sales in the ballpark of $7.9 billion by 2035.
More good news could be on the way. Alnylam plans to announce results from a phase 2 study evaluating zilebesiran in treating hypertension later this year. The company hopes to advance the drug to phase 3 testing in the second half of 2025. It also intends to move nucresiran into late-stage testing as a treatment for ATTR-CM within the next month or so.
Wall Street is largely bullish about this stock, with 24 of the 33 analysts surveyed by LSEG rating it as a "buy" or a "strong buy." I agree with this optimism. Alnylam should have plenty of room to run.
