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PDL BioPharma Rises On Better-than-seen Outlook

The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of PDL BioPharma Inc. jumped Monday after the company said it expects a revenue boost in the second quarter from royalties on a mix of drugs, including the blockbuster cancer treatment Avastin and respiratory virus drug Synagis.

The biotechnology stock gained 22 cents, or 3.1 percent, to reach $7.38 in morning trading. Shares have traded between $5.20 and $12.70 over the last 52 weeks.

The Incline Village, Nev.-based company expects revenue of about $125 million during the quarter, up 18 percent from $106 million a year prior. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect revenue of $114.7 million, on average.

The company receives royalties from Genentech Inc. on the cancer treatment Avastin and macular degeneration treatment Lucentis. Genentech is now part of Swiss-based Roche. PDL also receives royalties from Ireland-based Elan on sales of the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri. Elan's partner on that drug is Biogen Idec Inc.

PDL is scheduled to report its second-quarter results Aug. 6.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Jason Zhang reaffirmed a "Outperform" rating and a $8 price target, and attributed the higher-than-expected guidance to royalty revenue from the respiratory virus drug Synagis, which is made by Medimmune, part of AstraZeneca.

"Because of an ongoing license litigation, the company had previously not included royalty on Synagis sales in its forecast," Zhang said.

The latest outlook now includes about $18.7 million from Synagis royalties.