NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The shares of Biogen (BIIB) - Get Report are rallying after the company reported results for a Phase 1b study of its Alzheimer's drug, BIIB-037. On March 18, as reported on that day by The Fly, RBC Capital predicted that the stock would rise after the results were published. A number of other firms were also upbeat on the stock ahead of the data release.

WHAT'S NEW: Earlier this morning Biogen announced that the three milligram, six milligram, and ten milligram dose versions of its Alzheimer's treatment, aducanumab, had reduced the amount of amyloid plaque in the brains of Alzheimer's patients taking the drug by statistically significant amounts compared with those taking placebos. Beta amyloid is a protein that produces plaque in the brain. Scientists suspect that plaques in the brain are a cause of Alzheimer's. The cognitive decline of patients taking BIIB-037 was also significantly less than that of patients who were taking placebos, the company reported.

PRE-EVENT CALLS: RBC Capital analyst Michael Yee predicted earlier this week in a note to investors that Biogen would report strong data for BIIB-037 and the stock should "work higher" after the data is unveiled. Alzheimer's patients taking the high dose of Biogen's BIIB-037 drug should exhibit a stabilization of cognition levels, Yee stated. Conversely, the cognition levels of patients taking the placebo should drop slightly, the analyst predicted. On March 13, in a note summarized by The Fly on that day, JPMorgan recommended buying Biogen shares ahead of the data release. Investors still incorporated a low probability of success for the drug, and the stock could rise further, the firm wrote. On March 19, in a note also published by The Fly, Credit Suisse wrote that Biogen's multiple could rise if the data on BIIB-037 was positive. It raised its price target on the name to $500 from $400.

ANALYST REACTION: This morning, Barclays raised Biogen's price target to $500 from $435 following the company's report of "impressive" full results from the Alzheimer's study. Piper Jaffray analyst Joshua Schimmer also raised his price target for Biogen shares to $500 this morning, calling today’s BIIB-037 results "robust and impressive." Schimmer believes the trial showed a "consistent and dramatic" dose effect on both radiographic and clinical disease features and thinks the side effects "pale in comparison" to the drug’s efficacy.

OTHERS TO WATCH: Eli Lilly (LLY) - Get Report and Roche (RHHBY) are also currently developing similar Alzheimer's treatments.

PRICE ACTION: In late morning trading, Biogen rose 7% to $464. The stock is up about 9% since Wednesday. Eli Lilly shares are up 1.6% to $75.40 this morning, while Roche rose 2.2% to $35.

Reporting by Larry Ramer.

The Fly

is a leading digital publisher of real-time financial news. Our financial market experts understand that news impacting stock prices can originate from anywhere, at anytime. The Fly team scours all sources of company news, from mainstream to cutting-edge, then filters out the noise to deliver short-form stories consisting of only market moving content. Follow @theflynews on Twitter. For a free trial, click

here.