Black box warning on Leqembi ‘bit if a surprise,’ says Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler analyst Christopher Raymond keeps an Overweight rating on Biogen with a $360 price target after the FDA granted traditional approval of Leqembi for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. With little change in the safety profile from accelerated approval to the panel meeting, the analyst is “somewhat surprised” that the labeling now contains a black box warning around ApoE4 homozygous patients. However, these precautions are nothing new, so first impressions are that this warning language is not likely to impact prescribing, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Piper views the black box warning as a “bit if a surprise” but continues to anticipate “robust uptake – starting now” of Leqembi.