Barron's: New biologics and vaccines will spur Novartis stock

Barron's has taken a close look at Novartis' pipeline and bullishly concluded that the pharma giant has assembled one of the most promising drug pipelines in the industry. And those experimental therapies are expected to deliver a big bonanza for investors.

As proof of Novartis' promising future, Barron's holds up a likely approval for a blockbuster swine flu vaccine, with two jabs for meningitis expected by 2012. Altogether vaccines [1] and biologics now account for 20 percent of Novartis' pipeline, a fact that will help push up its sales revenue by 20 percent a year.

"They're a proven innovation engine, we're starting to see the fruits of their labor," analyst Jeff McCormack, of Manning & Napier Advisors, tells Barron's. Not convinced? Barron's concludes that "Novartis should have hearts pounding on Wall Street."

That's a far cry from the drubbing most big pharma companies have been taking in recent years as analysts shuddered over their lack of productivity.

- read the report [2] from Reuters

ALSO: Novartis' earnings future may be bright, but analysts expect Roche to beat it on EPS over the next four years. Chart [3]

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