Allergan Is More Than Pharma, It's A Consumer Discretionary Too

AGN is unique in the pharmaceutical space as it crosses into the luxury item sector. That portion of AGN stable that is related to aesthetics behaves more like luxury retail than Pharma. Items such as breast augmentation devices, are not health care essentials. This may help explain why AGN has continued to outperform its 'sector piers' and trades more in line with other luxury retailers which are presently experiencing a boom. AGN is well positioned in the niche ophthalmic space as well. Although the soft economy may have had a softening impact on some of the lines, we expect continued growth this year, helped by greater expansion in emerging markets, particularly Brazilin aesthetic markets, and new products. Despite competition Botox sales should continue to grow, also helped by greater penetration of foreign markets, and recently approved treatment indications in the United States. New products from a focused R&D pipeline should also help growth.

The key to understanding AGN, is being able to see beyond the narrow focus of analysis that is industry based. AGN is not a pure pharma play. That’s where Pharmascan excels – understanding the big picture.