Pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Pfizer Inc. (PFE) recently announced that its oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor XELJANZ has received marketing authorization from the European Commission for the treatment of active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and juvenile psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in patients two years of age and older.
Following the news, shares of the company climbed 4.1% in Friday’s extended trade to close at $50.70.
Chronic inflammatory disease JIA is an arthritis that starts before 16 years of age and continues for at least six weeks.
XELJANZ has been approved in four indications by the European Commission — adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after DMARD failure or intolerance; adults with active PsA after DMARD failure or intolerance; adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) who have had an inadequate response, lost response, or were intolerant to either conventional therapy or a biologic agent; and active polyarticular JIA and juvenile PsA in patients two years of age and older who have responded inadequately to previous therapy with DMARDs.
The International Developed Markets Regional President of Inflammation & Immunology at Pfizer, Paula Carvalho, said, “We are proud to make these new options available in the EU as Pfizer continues to advance the science and understanding of medicines like XELJANZ, which has been studied in more than 50 trials across clinical programs worldwide.” (See Pfizer stock chart on TipRanks)
Recently, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Louise Chen reiterated a Buy rating on the stock. The analyst, however, raised the price target from $53 to $61, which implies upside potential of 25.2% from current levels.
The analyst observes that the company’s advancements in pipeline and product sales continue to surpass expectations, which makes it an attractive choice for investors.
Consensus among analysts is a Hold based on 3 Buys and 9 Holds. The average Pfizer price target of $46.08 implies downside potential of 5.4% from current levels.
Pfizer scores a 9 out of 10 from TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, indicating that the stock has strong potential to outperform market expectations. Shares have gained 32.4% over the past year.
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