Biogen stock may see pressure after not mentioned in Alzheimer's presentation - analyst
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Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) shares may see pressure on Wednesday after the biotech company was never mentioned by name in a 90-minute presentation on Biogen and Eisai's (OTCPK:ESALF) Alzheimer's therapy lecanemab, according to Mizuho. Biogen rose 4.6% in premarket trading.
"Perhaps, the oddest piece of the presentation, however, was that "Biogen" was never uttered -- and I do wonder if this alone will put pressure on Biogen stock today, and whether it signals a growing possibility of an oncoming litigation between the partners," Mizuho analyst Salim Syed, who has a buy rating and $325 price target on BIIB, wrote in a note on Wednesday.
Syed said he continues to be asked by investors if there's tension between partners Biogen and Eisai and he questioned why Biogen (BIIB) was never mentioned during the presentation. 
The Eisai team also told Mizuho that its legal counsel told Eisai that it can no longer respond directly to inquiries from analysts that cover Biogen (BIIB). Syed said this was a new development and the firm was allowed in the past to go to Eisai with questions on the treatment.
Late Tuesday fresh data on Biogen (BIIB) and Eisai's (OTCPK:ESALY) experimental Alzheimer's treatment lecanemab indicated that while the biologic led to moderately less decline in cognition and function compared to placebo, it was also associated with higher rates of brain swelling and bleeding. 
"Overall, the presentation was as expected -- meaning the data overall continued to look great, and any "holes" were in the subgroup analyses, none of which though are likely to tank the thesis that the drug will get approved and used, assuming reimbursement," Syed wrote. 
On Monday, the journal Science reported a death linked to lecanemab.