On Wednesday, Genmab set course for its lowest share price in four years. Although the majority of C25 shares are in good shape on the back of encouraging inflation figures from the US, the Danish biotech flagship fell by 2.3% to DKK 1850.50 (USD 268). 

The downturn also brings the total loss for the year to over 14%, while the vast majority of other C25 shares have generated double-digit returns. 

There was no news on Wednesday that could have triggered the news, except that board member Anders Gersel Pedersen, former R&D director at Lundbeck, sold 2000 shares for just over DKK 3.8m (USD 550,800). 

This happened on Monday, but the announcement was not made until Tuesday evening shortly before 21:00. 

However, Genmab has generally been facing headwinds lately, with data from clinical trials apparently failing to sufficiently convince investors. 

One of the areas of concern is also uncertainty about whether partner Johnson & Johnson will exercise an option on Genmab’s drug candidate, GEN3014, which is otherwise earmarked as a possible replacement for the super-seller Darzalex for the treatment of bone marrow cancer. 

Earlier this year, Citi, the major US bank, predicted that Johnson & Johnson will not proceed with the project. 

In general, however, analysts are still positive about Genmab. 

Among 27 stock exchange houses, 16 have a positive recommendation, seven have a neutral recommendation, while four, including Citi, have a sell recommendation. This is according to data from Bloomberg. 

The average price target among 20 analysts is just over DKK 2,400 (USD 347.6), which is around 30% higher than the market price.

English edit: Catherine Brett