Markets·Sep 22, 2026
Morgan Stanley Says Market Overreacted to Amgen's Heart-Drug Setback
The bank argues Amgen's olpasiran differs meaningfully from a rival drug that failed in trials, following a private meeting with company management.
Morgan Stanley says Wall Street's sell-off in Amgen shares following a rival's failed heart-drug trial may have been overblown, according to TheStreet.
Amgen stock dropped 9.1% on Sept. 8 after Novartis announced on Sept. 4 that its cardiovascular drug pelacarsen failed to reduce heart attacks and strokes in high-risk patients, raising doubts about the entire class of Lp(a)-lowering treatments.
After meeting privately with Amgen's management at a healthcare conference on Sept. 15, Morgan Stanley's biopharma team said Amgen's own drug, olpasiran, has a different profile than Novartis's failed treatment and is being tested in a higher-risk patient population, changing what a positive result would require and the size of its potential market, according to a bank research note reviewed by TheStreet.
Lp(a) is a form of cholesterol linked to increased heart attack and stroke risk that, unlike regular cholesterol, does not respond to diet or exercise; no approved therapy currently targets it.
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