Every year, tens of thousands of Americans receive a kidney transplant that gives them a second chance at life, only for their own immune system to quietly start attacking the new organ, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration.
The condition is called antibody-mediated rejection, and there is currently no approved drug to stop it. But Biogen is close to changing that, and Wall Street is now paying attention.JPMorgan analyst Chris Schott upgraded Biogen (BIIB) from Neutral to Overweight this week and raised his price target from $210 to $300. He pointed to that kidney transplant drug, among a handful of other upcoming trial results, as the reason.
After the news dropped, the company’s shares increased by more than 3% in pre-market trading on Oct. 12. That increase almost carried the stock’s price to a new 52-week high.
After hearing about the JPMorgan call and the firm’s reasons, I realized investors really should rethink Biogen.
For almost two years, the market has placed most of its attention on the company’s Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi, and treated Biogen as a one-drug business. But now, that view is starting to change.
The kidney transplant milestone behind the upgrade
Biogen’s new drug felzartamab is being tested to treat antibody-mediated rejection, a condition that happens when a kidney transplant patient’s immune system turns on the new organ and attacks it as if it were a threat.
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For the thousands of Americans who receive a kidney transplant each year, this is one of their biggest fears. Losing the organ often means going back on dialysis or waiting years for another donor match.
Right now, there is no approved treatment for the condition, so a successful Phase 3 result would make felzartamab the first drug of its kind. JPMorgan thinks the market for the drug could be worth more than $2 billion.
Biogen expects the data in the first half of 2027.
Why Biogen’s 2027 pipeline matters
Biogen sells prescription drugs that treat brain and immune system diseases.
Its biggest products are Leqembi for early Alzheimer’s, Spinraza for spinal muscular atrophy, Skyclarys for a rare condition called Friedreich’s ataxia, and a set of older multiple sclerosis drugs that still bring in meaningful revenue.
Some older multiple sclerosis drugs now have cheaper options on the market, so sales have declined. That is why Biogen’s leadership has been focusing more on new research and deals, including the $5.6 billion purchase of Apellis Pharmaceuticals that Biogen announced earlier in 2026.
The company’s shift in focus now looks like the right move because some analysts now see its 2027 pipeline as a potential turning point for the business.
JPMorgan upgraded Biogen (BIIB) to Overweight with a $300 price target on Oct. 12, 2026.
Why Chris Schott raised Biogen’s price target to $300
Schott told clients that the reason for his bullish call on BIIB is an “increasingly compelling long-term growth outlook” tied to several important clinical results that are due in 2027, Investing.com reported.
Based on Biogen’s closing price of $229.41 on Oct. 12, JPMorgan’s new $300 target points to a roughly 31% increase.
JPMorgan also expects the growth rate of Biogen’s earnings to increase over the next few years.
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To be exact, the bank expects the pace to move from its current mid-single-digit percentages toward low-double-digit growth or higher by 2030.
Biogen also trades at about 14 times projected 2027 earnings per share, which is cheaper than many of its large-cap biotech peers that trade in the 18 to 20 range. That suggests that the market has not yet priced in the future growth Schott expects.
What litifilimab could do for Biogen in 2027
Felzartamab is not the only trial result Schott is watching.
Biogen also expects Phase 3 data for another drug it is testing in the first half of 2027. That drug is Litifilimab, a drug that targets cutaneous lupus.
There are no approved treatments for cutaneous lupus as well, so a positive result could also lead to meaningful sales for the company. In addition to that, Biogen also expects two more Phase 3 results in systemic lupus in the fourth quarter of 2026.
What to watch before the Oct. 28 earnings report
The day before Schott’s note, UBS also raised its price target on Biogen to $270 from $240 while keeping a Buy rating, Stocktwits reported.
That suggests that analysts’ view on the stock is already changing ahead of Biogen’s third-quarter report on Oct. 28.
However, it is also important for investors to remember that biotech trials can fail, and when they do, the company’s shares could fall.
Investors can try starting off with a smaller position first and then buy more after the 2027 data lands. That could help soften any impact in case there is a negative result.
