COVID-19 Therapeutics Take an Enhanced Role as Regeneron (NASDAQ:REGN) Gains

While much of the world remains fascinated by developments on the COVID-19 front focused on vaccines, there's also the burgeoning treatment sector to consider. COVID-19 treatments have ranged from the flashy scientific powerhouse to the unlikeliest of potential treatments, and Regeneron (NASDAQ:REGN) has been leading the way herein. The latest word about the company's treatment options has proven to be a welcome report for investors.

Beating COVID-19 at its Own Game

The latest word out of the company reveals that its monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 is not only a treatment, but it also has some preventative capability as well. Recent testing staged at nursing homes found that symptomatic infections were prevented thanks to the antibody treatment.

The early testing featured 223 patients on a placebo, and 186 patients receiving the monoclonal antibody treatment. The placebo group saw eight patients get infected, but the antibody treatment saw absolutely no infections. Plus, those who received the treatment were also found to be less likely to be asymptomatic carriers, with 23 in the placebo group qualifying as such while only 10 in the antibody group could say the same.

Just to round out the good news, even those who got infected had a much less severe version of COVID-19. Placebo group volunteers had viral loads over 100 times higher than those in the antibody group, and the antibody group never had an infection lasting longer than a week. Placebo group infections, meanwhile, had infections go three to four weeks.

Bulls Are Running in the Analyst Pool

The broader analyst pool, meanwhile—as based on our latest research—finds that Regeneron is still well worth buying in on. The consensus is actually stronger today at any point that it's been in the last six months, with seven “hold” ratings, 17 “buy” ratings and one “strong buy”. That's up quite a way from six months ago, where it was 12 “hold”, 14 “buy” and one “strong buy.” That's even up quite a way from figures seen three months ago, the previous high-water mark, where it was nine “hold”, 14 “buy” and one “strong buy.”

Interestingly, despite the growth in bullishness, the price target has begun to retract after several months of growth. Six months ago, it stood at $576.22 before going to $622.13 three months ago. A month ago, it reached a high point of $625.48 before slipping to today's figure of $619.32. With the stock currently trading at $550.08 as of this writing, there may yet be some room for gains here. So far this year, four analysts have upgraded their price targets, and two of them upgraded their entire outlook on Regeneron at the same time.

Supporting a Market Whose Products Can't Come Fast Enough

Regeneron has a great opportunity to forge its own market here. While most are looking at vaccines—when are they released? How safe are they?—there's an entire market that's looking for any kind of counter against coronavirus, and that should make treatment options popular as well.

There will always be a certain segment of the market that won't take vaccines, especially vaccines that took less than a year to go from idea to shot. We've heard a lot about treatment options, from the controversial like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to issues like Regeneron's, which even former President Trump used successfully following his own bout with COVID-19 back in October.

With vaccine doses coming in nowhere near as quickly as some would like, having viable treatment options is a great way to supplement the vaccine arrivals. It's also a great bit of news for investors; similar results slipped out from Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) about its own treatment plan.

That's both good and bad news for Regeneron, but mostly good. While it does mean that it will have to share the market space with a competitor, the fact that there are two major pharmaceutical operations with treatment plans should increase the credibility of treatment efforts. That's going to take some pressure off vaccine makers, and help address the outlier population that's skeptical of the vaccines available. It also serves to take pressure off hospitals, who can better address cases with a prescription rather than forcing them to commit a bed to most every coronavirus patient. Those who do require beds, meanwhile, can be moved through more quickly because they can be actively treated.

It's also going to help give Regeneron a boost, as it lands a sizable chunk of a major market at just the right time. Between vaccines and treatment options, we should be coming to the other side of the coronavirus tunnel fairly soon, and investors here can help lead the way.