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Seagen's (SGEN) Cancer Drugs Aid Growth, Stiff Rivalry a Woe

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Seagen Inc. is making good progress with its portfolio of marketed drugs — Adcetris, Padcev, Tukysa and the newly approved Tivdak — targeting different types of cancer indications.

The company’s top line mainly comprises of product revenues, collaboration and license agreement revenues, and royalties.

Seagen’s lead drug, Adcetris, is approved for treating Hodgkin lymphoma, certain T-cell lymphomas, as well as some other cancers in the United States, Europe and several countries. Adcetris is approved by the FDA for six indications.

Seagen has an agreement with Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Company (TAK - Free Report) for further development and commercialization of Adcetris.

Seagen records royalty revenues on the sales of Adcetris from Takeda in ex-U.S. markets.

Shares of Seagen have declined 11% so far this year compared with the industry’s decrease of 19.9%.

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Seagen’s second drug, Padcev, is approved for the treatment of patients with advanced/metastatic urothelial cancer who have been previously treated with both a checkpoint inhibitor (PD-1/PD-L1) and platinum-based chemotherapy.

In February 2022, the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (“CHMP”) confirmed its previously adopted positive opinion, recommending marketing authorization to Padcev. The CHMP recommended approval of Padcev as a monotherapy for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer in adult patients who have previously received platinum-containing chemotherapy and a PD-1/L1 inhibitor.

In July 2021, the FDA approved two supplemental biologics license applications (sBLA) that sought a label expansion for Padcev. The first sBLA approval converts Padcev’s accelerated approval to regular approval in adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who were previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy and a PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor. The second sBLA approval makes Padcev the first and only drug approved by the FDA to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who have been previously treated with a PD-1/L1 inhibitor and are not eligible for cisplatin.

In April 2020, the FDA approved Seagen’s third drug, Tukysa, in combination with Roche's (RHHBY - Free Report) Herceptin and Xeloda for treating adult patients with locally advanced/metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer, including those with brain metastases, having received one or more prior anti-HER2-based regimens in the metastatic setting.

Seagen is also evaluating Tukysa in combination with Roche’s Herceptin and as a single agent for treating patients with HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) who were previously treated with first- and second-line standard-of-care therapies.

In September 2021, the FDA granted accelerated approval to Tivdak (tisotumabvedotin-tftv) for the treatment of recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer in adult patients whose disease progressed on or after chemotherapy. The drug has been developed in collaboration with Denmark’s Genmab A/S.

The approval for Tivdak has added a fourth drug to Seagen’s portfolio, which is likely to drive sales in the days ahead. Although the drug is seeing a slow launch uptake, Adcetris is expected to witness modest growth in 2022. Despite Padcev and Tukysa generating incremental sales, Adcetris still contributes the majority of Seagen’s revenues. Stiff competition from other companies in the target market also remains a headwind.

Seagen Inc. Price and Consensus

Seagen Inc. Price and Consensus

Seagen Inc. price-consensus-chart | Seagen Inc. Quote

Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider

Seagen currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

A better-ranked stock in the biotech sector is Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX - Free Report) , carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Vertex’s earnings estimates have been revised 8.4% upward for 2022 over the past 60 days. The VRTX stock has gained 12.5% year to date.

Vertex’s earnings have surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters.


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