Street View: Amgen's lung cancer therapy eyes blockbuster status

** The U.S. health regulator on Thursday granted accelerated approval to Amgen's AMGN targeted immunotherapy, tarlatamab, for adults in the advanced stages of hard-to-treat small cell lung cancer that has worsened despite chemotherapy

COULD BE A BLOCKBUSTER LATER THIS DECADE

** BMO Capital Markets ("Outperform," PT: $355) says the approval "takes a meaningful step" to expand Amgen's portfolio of cancer drugs

** Brokerage expects tarlatamab to achieve peak sales of ~$2 billion with a significant opportunity to expand into earlier lines of treatment

** RBC Capital Markets ("Outperform," PT: $328) says it expects a rapid adoption of tarlatamab as there is currently no approved standard-of-care for these patients

** Says tarlatamab could become a greater contributor over time through potential additional approvals in earlier-line settings

** Jefferies ("Buy," PT: $375) says tarlatamab is "not a huge current needle-mover for AMGN - but obviously a $1B type product later towards 2028-2030"

** Brokerage estimates the drug to reach $300-500 million as a later-line treatment but says it could be a blockbuster later this decade for AMGN and an "incremental positive for the longer-term business"