Vertex Pharmaceuticals' cystic fibrosis (CF) therapies brought in about $3.2 billion of its $3.33 billion second-quarter revenue, roughly 96%. The company expects $500 million or more in 2026 sales from Journavx and Casgevy, and recently reported positive Phase 2b data for inaxaplin in APOL1-mediated kidney disease, with reduced urine protein and no serious side effects. Q2 revenue rose 12% year over year, EPS reached $4.31, and full-year revenue guidance was raised to $13.1 billion to $13.2 billion, while the $10 billion Crinetics Pharmaceuticals acquisition closed on Sept. 1. Shares are up more than 15% so far this year, and the article suggests this gain does not appear to come only from hype.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Read the original on Yahoo Finance ↗
Keywords
pharmaceuticalsearningsmergers and acquisitions
Open a keyword to see other news on the same topic.
Related news
- Biotech stocks are surging. How investors can play the new drug innovation boom
Biotech stocks are rallying: the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) is up 24% through October 23, after a 28% gain in 2025, with two dozen of its 233 holdings more than doubling year-to-date. Moderna leads with a 587% surge, though its stock fell 18% after a leak of positive cancer-vaccine trial data. Analysts attribute the rally to clinical trial results, M&A, and technologies such as mRNA, genomics and AI, with about a dozen novel biologics approved by the FDA in 2025 out of 46 approvals and roughly 66 novel drugs in the pipeline. The Moderna–Merck melanoma drug showed a 42% reduction in recurrence or death when combined with Keytruda in Phase 3 and is targeted for FDA submission and launch in 2027. Gene-sequencing firm Illumina more than doubled this year, and 10x Genomics rose more than 300%.
- Why Healthcare ETFs Are Hovering Around One-Year Highs
Healthcare ETFs are near one-year highs, supported by an improving earnings outlook, positive trial data, relatively attractive valuations, and a shift out of crowded AI/tech trades. The State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) rose 23.2% over six months (as of Oct. 20, 2026), versus about 9.2% for the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY). S&P 500 healthcare companies are expected to post double-digit earnings growth from Q4 2026 through 2027, and sector M&A value has reached nearly $284 billion this year, approaching 2025's $306 billion. Notable 2026 readouts include Eli Lilly's retatrutide (28.3% average weight loss over 80 weeks at the 12-mg dose) and Vertex's povetacicept (49.8% proteinuria reduction vs. placebo at Week 36). The article also profiles the VanEck Biotech ETF (BBH, up 30.8% YTD) and Invesco Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE, up 20.5% YTD).
- Great News for AbbVie Stock Investors
AbbVie (ABBV) shares have climbed 26% this year on strong financial performance, and the author sees a bright medium-term outlook. Skyrizi, the company's biggest growth driver, generated almost $10 billion in sales in the first half, up 27%, but its U.S. patents may begin expiring by 2033, potentially opening the door to cheaper biosimilars. On Oct. 19, AbbVie reported encouraging Phase 2a results for ABBV-466, which combines risankizumab and trosunilimab, though these must still be confirmed in Phase 3 studies. Its $10.9 billion cash acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics brought zumilokibart, which AbbVie hopes can challenge Dupixent (over $15 billion in annual sales), with maintenance injections possibly only every three or six months. Rinvoq should not face U.S. generics until 2037, and the author says AbbVie can deliver competitive long-term returns, with a forward yield of 2.5% versus the S&P 500's average of 1.1%.
- OpenAI Buys Orchestra Bio to Put AI Agents in Charge of Drug Development Grunt Work
OpenAI has acquired Orchestra Bio, a San Francisco startup whose AI agents track drug development programs, and will fold its team and platform into Rosalind, its family of AI tools for biologists and chemists; financial terms were not disclosed. Orchestra's agents work out how setbacks such as a failed manufacturing batch ripple through a drug program and compare possible responses, while scientists make the final call. The deal follows Anthropic's roughly $400 million purchase of Coefficient Bio in April, as AI labs race to own the workflow behind new medicines. The article notes that bringing one approved drug to market can cost more than $2.6 billion and that fewer than 10% of candidates entering human testing reach pharmacy shelves. Orchestra was founded in fall 2022 and has raised about $20 million in total, according to Caplight data.
- Forget Cystic Fibrosis: Vertex's Next Growth Engine Could Be Hormone Disorders
Vertex Pharmaceuticals closed its roughly $10 billion cash acquisition of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in September, its largest deal to date. Crinetics' approved product Palsonify, launched in the U.S. last year, is indicated as a first-line treatment for acromegaly in patients who are not eligible for surgery or for whom surgery did not work, and is taken as a once-daily oral pill. Vertex estimates 20,000 patients diagnosed with acromegaly in the U.S. and 35,000 outside the U.S., while only 40% to 50% achieve durable remission after surgery. The deal also brought atumelnant, which is in Phase 3 studies for congenital adrenal hyperplasia and Phase 2 trials for Cushing's syndrome. Vertex estimates Palsonify and atumelnant could eventually generate peak revenue above $5 billion, compared with $12 billion in company revenue last year, while sales growth in its core cystic fibrosis franchise has slowed.
- Merck CEO tells CNBC he expects breakthrough cancer vaccine will become faster to make
Merck CEO Rob Davis told CNBC that the personalized cancer vaccine developed with Moderna currently takes about six weeks from tumor sequencing to hospital delivery, and he expects that timeline to shorten over time, though supply and market readiness come first. The vaccine targets each patient's unique tumor mutations and is paired with Keytruda; in August, the companies released positive early data from a late-stage melanoma trial. Merck also opened a 120,000-square-foot R&D facility in West Point, Pennsylvania, as Keytruda nears loss of exclusivity, with its core U.S. compound patent expiring in December 2028. The company plans $65 billion in external acquisitions and licensing deals over five years to bolster its pipeline. A Dutch court has blocked Merck from selling subcutaneous Keytruda in eight European countries, and Merck says it will appeal.
Related markets
Latest news
- Could Buying XRP Today Set You Up for Life?
The article notes XRP rose from under $0.50 in 2024 to a $3.65 peak in July 2025 before giving back much of those gains, trading at $1.38 as of Oct. 21. Although Ripple was valued at $50 billion after a $750 million share buyback offer in March 2026, XRP is only a bridge currency in one of Ripple's payment products, and fewer than 10 of the over 300 financial institutions using Ripple are reported to use XRP. Spot XRP ETFs launched in November 2025 with about $1.6 billion in AUM, but XRP's price has declined for much of the past year, and the Clarity Act failed to pass the U.S. Senate. With a market cap of about $87 billion, XRP would need to reach about $8.7 trillion to become a 100-bagger, and the author is skeptical of it as a long-term investment, suggesting Ripple could be more interesting if it goes public. The author takes a cautious approach, noting XRP can move quickly both up and down.
- 3 Gold Stocks With Net Margins Over 34%
Gold's brief move above $5,000 earlier this year showed how quickly the metal can swing when fear and inflation worries rise. The article highlights three gold miners with tight cost control and clean balance sheets and notes the full Elite Gold Stocks screen covers 32 more. Newmont (NEM), a large global miner with a market cap of US$118.9b, mainly produces gold from long-life deposits, and its focus on operational stability, cost discipline and productivity gains at sites such as Lihir and Boddington is expected to lower operating costs and improve EBITDA margins. DRDGOLD (DRD), with a market cap of US$2.1b, recovers gold from surface mine tailings in South Africa, reporting ZAR 11,159 million of FY2026 revenue, a 38.1% net margin and 33.4% ROE. Investors would need to weigh whether its capital efficiency holds up under expansion funding pressure and shifts in non-cash earnings quality.
- SLB (SLB) Opens Canada Facility After Data Center Win Changed The Story
SLB (NYSE:SLB) is launching a modular data center infrastructure facility in Canada to serve Meta as a modular partner, handling offsite assembly, installation and commissioning of components for Meta data centers. The move extends the energy services provider, with a market value of about $73.5 billion, beyond its oilfield focus into hyperscale digital infrastructure, drawing on its experience with large industrial projects. The article links the project to SLB's Data Center Solutions segment, which alongside Kelvion is targeted to generate US$4.5b to US$5.0b of data center revenue and US$700m to US$800m of adjusted EBITDA in 2028, and says reaching these goals depends on smooth integration and on hyperscale contracts ramping as planned. Key indicators to watch include how SLB reports this segment, particularly backlog tied to Meta and other hyperscalers, the margin impact of ramp-up costs, and progress toward the Canadian facility's planned opening in the first half of 2027.
- The Nasdaq Just Had Its Worst Day in 4 Months. Here's the Level That Would Signal a Correction, and What History Says Investors Can Do About It.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6% on Oct. 22 to close at 26,008.86, its largest drop since a 4.2% decline on June 5. A correction, a fall of at least 10% from the highs, would require a further 4.1% drop to below 24,950, which would mark the third correction this year. Corrections have been occurring more frequently, but recoveries have generally been quick, with the 2022 to early 2024 slump the main exception. The article attributes the choppier market to fast-spreading information, easy trading, and concentration in AI-linked mega-cap stocks that make up much of the S&P 500. It says holding quality companies, index funds, or ETFs is the simplest way to endure corrections, and suggests reviewing whether large positions are highly correlated.
- Oklo Is Down 61% This Year Despite a Real Technical Milestone. Here's the Disconnect Between the Stock and the Science.
Oklo stock has fallen more than 60% this year, and the VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NLR) has dropped 25%, as Wall Street has grown less confident about nuclear stocks. Oklo's AI power opportunity, once its main tailwind, has become a headwind as investors question whether spending on AI infrastructure will deliver big returns. The company has reached technical milestones, including first criticality of its Groves test reactor in Texas in August, NRC approval of principal design criteria for its Aurora powerhouse in May, and DOE approval of a preliminary safety analysis for a reactor in Idaho. However, Oklo remains unprofitable, is still burning cash, and lacks regulatory approval for Aurora, whose planned 2028 launch is not guaranteed given its history of delays. The author suggests a small speculative position may fit some investors, while less aggressive investors may prefer other growth stocks.
- Stock Market Sell-Off: History Says This Is the Best Move to Make Right Now
The Nasdaq Composite has fallen 7.6% from its early October highs, with AI stocks among the main drags on the index. The author argues against panic selling, noting that the Fidelity NASDAQ Composite Index ETF (ONEQ) fell 33% in 2022 before soaring 44.6% in 2024, while investors who moved to cash missed that rebound. As of Oct. 23, ONEQ had gained 150% since the end of 2022. The author says the effective approach is to stay the course, keep regular investments going so each contribution buys more at lower prices, and treat a pullback as a chance to add quality stocks whose declines are unrelated to their fundamentals. The article cites John Bogle's “stay the course” philosophy, which Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham would also agree with.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.