AstraZeneca (AZN) Stock Advancing on Patent Litigation Resolution
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of AstraZeneca (AZN) - Get Report are up 0.36% to $30.31 this morning after the London-based drug company announced it had reached an agreement with Sandoz surrounding a U.S. patent litigation.
AstraZeneca's hormonal therapy drug, Faslodex, has U.S. patents in place until January 2021, when they expire. It has pediatric exclusivity on the drug, however, until July of that year.
Sandoz, a private generic drugmaker based in Princeton, NJ, is seeking approval for its own general fulvestrant product.
Fulvestrant is a hormonal therapy drug used to treat breast cancer.
Yesterday, the companies filed a consent judgement with the U.S. District Court in New Jersey including an injunction preventing Sandoz from launching a generic fulvestrant product in the U.S. until March 2019.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings rated this stock as a "hold" with a ratings score of C+.
The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income and notable return on equity. However, TheStreet Ratings also finds weaknesses including generally higher debt management risk and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: AZN
Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.