Genmab Rises as Nordea Says Bet on Cancer Drug: Copenhagen Mover

Genmab A/S (GEN) rose the most in a week in Copenhagen trading after Nordea Bank AB said an experimental cancer treatment that the Danish company is developing with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) will boost the share price.

Genmab rose 4.2 percent, the most since March 13, to 125.40 kroner at 12:40 p.m. in the Danish capital, with trading volume at 143 percent of the three-month daily average.

Findings presented at a scientific session that Nordea hosted confirm Genmab’s daratumumab is “a clearly unique asset” in the growing market for treating multiple myeloma, the bank said. Nordea repeated a strong buy recommendation on the shares of the Copenhagen-based drugmaker.

“We believe that daratumumab could be the next big thing in multiple myeloma,” Michael Novod, an analyst with Nordea in Copenhagen, said in the note.

The market for multiple myeloma is “set to grow rapidly,” approaching $9 billion in 2020 amid better diagnosis and treatment of the disease, Novod said. The cancer starts in the plasma cells in bone marrow.

Genmab and partner J&J, which is based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, are discussing “all options” for speeding up regulatory approval of daratumumab, Chief Executive officer Jan Van de Winkel said in a March 7 phone interview.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Wienberg in Copenhagen at cwienberg@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tasneem Brogger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net