Barclays sees challenging outlook for EU pharma in 2025, prefers Novo and AstraZeneca

Catalent

18/11/2024 10:44

** Barclays sees a challenging outlook in 2025 for EU
pharma, citing a macro rotation out of defensive names
    ** The recent downturn of sentiment in large-cap pharma
companies and improving market outlook outside of the healthcare
sector suggest that EU pharma won't outperform the market in
2025, it adds
    ** In 2025, the sector will focus on clinical catalysts,
mergers and acquisitions and ongoing political uncertainty, like
the possible appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the U.S.'
secretary of health, it says
    ** But it does remain positive on the medium- to long-term
outlook, given also a rise in clinical catalysts, inelastic
product demand and greater revenue concentration in the U.S.
    ** The broker prefers Novo Nordisk  NOVOb.CO  and
AstraZeneca  AZN.L , keeping its "overweight" on both
    ** It says on AstraZeneca that its growth in the U.S. is
expected to exceed that in China and it sees its valuation as
attractive, despite the investigations in China still hanging
over it
    ** It expects positive results from Novo Nordisk's drug
CagriSema in December, while it sees a greater chance of the
Catalent  CTLT.N  deal clearing post the U.S. election

 (Reporting by Isabel Demetz)
 ((Isabel.demetz@thomsonreuters.com))