Credit Suisse Chooses Biogen Idec Over Amgen (BIIB, AMGN)

Credit Suisse is making a change in its Global Biotechnology outlook and says the is ‘room to run on generalist interest.’ Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) is named as Credit Suisse’s preferred choice in the sector, which is a switch from Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN).  The report noted, “Biotech is off to its best start in a long time. In our view, there remains room for further significant performance driven by these factors”: 

(1) generalist interest in identifiable, high-quality, “defensive” growth,

(2) reasonable valuations,

(3) the wildcard possibility of continued upside from M&A,

(4) the sector’s continued innovation uptick and

(5) 2012 is more of a year of commercial execution rather than clinical data, which reduces the sector’s risk profile.

Biogen is trading at $121.56 against a 52-week trading range of $65.39 to $123.23; and Amgen is trading at $69.17 against a 52-week trading range of $47.66 to $70.00.  Amgen is worth $55 billion and Biogen Idec is worth $29.5 billion.  As a reminder, Amgen is the one that pays a dividend now.