Amgen falls after Novartis trial setback, BMO downgrade

Separately, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Amgen to "market Perform" and maintained its price target of $450.

BMO said Amgen still faces meaningful loss-of-exclusivity pressures, and added that more clarity is needed on the competitive profile of its experimental weight-loss drug MariTide.

As of the last close, AMGN was up 33.5% year to date.

• Shares of Amgen AMGN.O slip 5.05% to $415.15 premarket.
• Novartis' NOVN.S cholesterol drug failed in a closely watched study, raising concerns for Amgen's experimental cholesterol drug olpasiran.
• J.P. Morgan analysts say Novartis' pelacarsen study results lower expectations for Amgen's olpasiran ahead of late-stage data expected in late 2027 or early 2028.
• The brokerage says it is less convinced this would be clinically meaningful enough to translate to a significant commercial opportunity, even if olpasiran is able to show a stronger signal than pelacarsen.
• Shares of NewAmsterdam Pharma NAMS.O, which is also developing a rival cholesterol drug named obicetrapib, slid more than 10% before the bell.