Morgan Stanley upgrades Regeneron, says shares could rally 20% even after promising eye drug results

There’s more upside in store for Regeneron even after the stock’s sharp move higher following the release of positive results from its eye drug trial, Morgan Stanley said. Analyst Matthew Harrison upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight in a note to clients Friday, calling Regeneron the “key large cap biotech growth story.” The analyst also slapped a price target of $851 per share on Regeneron, implying 20% upside from Thursday’s close. “Overall, we now see REGN as the preferred large cap growth name supported by a range of products delivering durable revenues and an advancing oncology pipeline with the potential to diversify the base business,” he said. The upgrade from the bank comes after the company said Thursday that trials for its Eylea drug aimed at treating certain eye diseases worked in a large number of patients when used at high dosage levels. That pushed the pharmaceutical stock to about 19% higher in Thursday’s session. According to Harrison, further growth at the company should be driven not only by high-dose Eylea but also by its Dupixent drug used to treat atopic dermatitis. He also said both the Street and investors are undervaluing the company’s oncology offerings. “Further, we believe investors underappreciated the impact of the recent co-stim data and believe oncology can be a multi-billion dollar franchise for REGN,” Harrison wrote. “Overall, we see novel assets like the bispecifics and costimulatory antibodies as the key to driving major upside from the I/O strategy and await POC data.” Going forward, Harrison also expects the Eylea drug to maintain and grow its market share — partially given that it’s fairly well known among physicians. Shares of Regeneron have risen more than 12% this year and about 22% this month. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting