FDA Awards Special Vouchers: The U.S. FDA has granted special vouchers to six additional companies, including Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, to expedite the review of their medicines, increasing the total recipients to 15. These vouchers are aimed at treatments for cancer, obesity, tuberculosis, and sickle cell disease.
Accelerated Review Process: The vouchers are part of a pilot program designed to accelerate FDA decisions for drugs addressing significant public health needs, allowing companies to receive decisions within one to two months instead of the usual 10 to 12 months.
Pricing Agreements and Market Impact: The announcement coincided with the Trump administration's pricing agreements with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk for their weight-loss treatments, which included commitments to lower prices for Medicare and Medicaid in exchange for priority review vouchers.
Analyst Insights and Company Reactions: Analysts suggest that the benefits of the vouchers may be limited for Novo Nordisk, as approval for its oral Wegovy is expected soon. Following the announcement, shares of Lilly rose slightly, while Novo Nordisk's shares fell.
Wall Street analysts forecast VRTX stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for VRTX is 515.88 USD with a low forecast of 414.00 USD and a high forecast of 604.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
22 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast VRTX stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for VRTX is 515.88 USD with a low forecast of 414.00 USD and a high forecast of 604.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
17 Buy
5 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 467.350
Low
414.00
Averages
515.88
High
604.00
Current: 467.350
Low
414.00
Averages
515.88
High
604.00
RBC Capital
Brian Abrahams
Sector Perform
to
Outperform
upgrade
$455 -> $546
2026-01-22
New
Reason
RBC Capital
Brian Abrahams
Price Target
$455 -> $546
AI Analysis
2026-01-22
New
upgrade
Sector Perform
to
Outperform
Reason
RBC Capital analyst Brian Abrahams upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals to Outperform from Sector Perform with a price target of $546, up from $455. The firm believes the company's near-term data will "solidify the increasingly promising prospects" of povetacicept. RBC sees potential for Vertex's cystic fibrosis competitive overhang to be reduced following the data. The company's CF franchise "remains strong" and should command a higher valuation in 2026, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
Wolfe Research
Peer Perform -> Outperform
upgrade
2026-01-06
Reason
Wolfe Research
Price Target
2026-01-06
upgrade
Peer Perform -> Outperform
Reason
Wolfe Research upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals to Outperform from Peer Perform.
Unlock Full Analyst Thesis， Get the complete breakdown of rating reason for VRTX
Unlock Now
UBS
Michael Yee
Buy
downgrade
$546 -> $535
2026-01-06
Reason
UBS
Michael Yee
Price Target
$546 -> $535
2026-01-06
downgrade
Buy
Reason
UBS analyst Michael Yee assumed coverage of Vertex Pharmaceuticals with a Buy rating with a price target of $535, down from $546. The firm believes the risk/reward is attractive here given the pullback in 2025 which sets up well for lots of data readouts for 2026-2027. The company is in a strong position given its core cystic fibrosis business has no patent loss-of-exclusivity until at least 2037 and beyond with a significant barrier to entry and no real competitive threat on the horizon, the analyst tells investors in a research note.
Leerink
Outperform
maintain
$456 -> $525
2025-12-29
Reason
Leerink
Price Target
$456 -> $525
2025-12-29
maintain
Outperform
Reason
Leerink raised the firm's price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals to $525 from $456 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm cites an increase in its terminal growth assumption from 1% to 2%. Leerink is optimistic about the company's revenue and pipeline prospects, which it expects to drive stock price performance. The firm would caveat that it projects higher investment spending growth than consensus models.
About VRTX
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious diseases, with a focus on specialty markets. It has seven approved medicines: five that treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (CF), one that treats severe sickle cell disease (SCD) and transfusion dependent beta thalassemia (TDT), and one that treats moderate-to-severe acute pain. Its pipeline includes clinical-stage programs in CF, SCD, beta thalassemia, acute and peripheral neuropathic pain, APOL1-mediated kidney disease, IgA nephropathy and other autoimmune renal diseases and cytopenias, type 1 diabetes, myotonic dystrophy type 1, and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Its marketed medicines are TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor), SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor), ORKAMBI (lumacaftor/ivacaftor), and KALYDECO (ivacaftor).
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
