Fem europeiska biotechaktier laddar för genombrott 2026

It’s been a big year for European biotech stocks: Abivax SA soared about 1,300% after successful trial results for a bowel disease drug, Argenx SE was added to the elite Euro Stoxx 50 Index and smaller names including Valneva SE and Inventiva also had impressive rallies.

Now, investors in the sector are looking ahead to clinical trial results in areas including obesity, Lyme disease, Crohn’s disease and autoimmune disorders. There’s a lot at stake, as success can translate to huge stock-price gains, put companies on the radar of US investors — and sometimes lead to potential M&A interest from big pharma.

“It’s great to see stories of homegrown companies that do make it,” said Giovanni Mariggi, a partner at the investment firm Medicxi, referring to European biotech firms whose market values have grown substantially. “Once these companies break into certain market caps, some US investors can start playing in the space.”

The US market has long attracted biotech companies because of its deeper liquidity and specialized investors. But several European biotechs with a dual listing in New York have also raised money in the US this year, including Abivax’s capital raise of about $748 million and a roughly $172 million offering by Inventiva.

M&A has also been rising, with big pharmaceutical firms hunting for new blockbuster drugs to replace revenue lost when exclusivity lapses on key medicines. More than 500 biotech and pharma transactions totaling about $137 billion have been announced industry wide this year, surpassing the $71 billion in 2025, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Still, trial results are the most crucial factor. They often have a binary outcome, and setbacks can be punished harshly. In one dramatic result this year, shares of US-listed MoonLake Immunotherapeutics plunged 90% in one day after analysts said its experimental drug for skin disease hidradenitis suppurativa failed to demonstrate superiority to a medicine made by Belgium’s UCB SA.

Here are five key European biotech stocks — and catalysts — to watch for in 2026.

Key events:

Phase 2 results for petrelintide in obesity expected in 1Q.
Phase 3 results for survodutide in obesity in 1H, partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim.

Zealand Pharma A/S shares have slumped 35% this year as investors await crucial study data for its experimental weight-loss drug petrelintide, which is being co-developed with Roche Holding AG. The drug mimics a gut hormone called amylin, which slows digestion and makes people feel full for longer. Drugs using this approach are thought to be a gentler option than medicines like Eli Lilly & Co.’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk A/S’s Wegovy, which can have side effects like nausea and vomiting.

“2026 will be a pivotal year for Zealand Pharma,” according to Barclays Plc analyst Yihan Li. Given the baseline differences between Zealand’s petrelintide drug study and Eli Lilly’s mid-stage trial for its own amylin drug, a weight loss of more than 15% for petrelintide at 42 weeks “would be a home run” for the Danish company, Li wrote in a note.

Key event:

Phase 3 results for Lyme disease vaccine candidate VLA15 expected in 1H.

Valneva SE shares have rallied 64% this year, helped by its vaccine for chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease that saw outbreaks in several regions in 2025. The company is also developing a Lyme disease vaccine with Pfizer Inc., with late-stage trial results expected in the first half. The companies have already reported positive mid-stage data, and there is no current human vaccine for the infection, which spreads to people through ticks.

Stifel analyst Damien Choplain sees an 80% probability of success for the late-stage trial. The Phase 3 results will be “one of the most compelling risk/reward catalysts in the European biotech space” over the next few months, Choplain wrote in a note.

Key events:

Phase 3 maintenance results for obefazimod in ulcerative colitis expected in 2Q.
Phase 2 induction results for obefazimod in Crohn’s disease expected in 2H.

Abivax became the poster child for European biotech this year after its shares soared about 1,300%, largely driven by positive data for its experimental medicine to treat a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Investors are eying whether patients with ulcerative colitis taking Abivax’s obefazimod pill will stay in remission, with results expected in the second quarter. The company is also expected to release mid-stage trial results for the pill’s treatment of Crohn’s disease in the second half.

The stock setup into 2026 “is favorable with two major catalysts on deck,” Wolfe Research analyst Andy Chen wrote in a note. “Ulcerative colitis maintenance is likely to be less stock moving versus Crohn’s disease given we see no reason efficacy shouldn’t deepen with longer treatment.”

Key events:

Phase 3 results for Vyvgart in ocular myasthenia gravis expected in 1H.
Phase 3 results for Vyvgart in myositis expected in 2H.
Phase 3 results for Vyvgart in primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) expected in 2H.
Phase 3 results for empasiprubart in multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) expected in 2H.

Argenx is up 24% this year and has rallied more than 8,000% since listing in Brussels in July 2014, propelling it into the euro area’s top benchmark this year. Its fortunes are closely tied to the blockbuster Vyvgart, its only drug on the market, which has been approved to treat several autoimmune diseases. Results are expected next year for four late-stage trials for further autoimmune conditions, including three for Vyvgart. The company just discontinued Phase 3 studies for Vyvgart in thyroid eye disease.

The eye-drug failure “heightens 2026 readout pressure,” according to Michael Shah, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. It places an “added burden on delivering successful pivotal readouts” in ocular myasthenia gravis, myositis and primary immune thrombocytopenia next year, he wrote.

Key event:

Phase 3 results for lanifibranor in liver disease expected in 2H.

Inventiva shares have surged 77% this year as Abivax’s explosive rally sent investors searching for the next European biotech play. Late-stage clinical trial results for the French company’s experimental liver-disease drug, lanifibranor, are expected in the second half.

MASH, also known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, is emerging as a “key cause in liver disease,” according to Van Lanschot Kempen analyst Sushila Hernandez. Lanifibranor “shows promise” as a potential treatment for MASH patients with Type 2 diabetes, she wrote in a note. It could also “be positioned as the leading oral option for the treatment of MASH and suitable for combination therapy.”

--With assistance from Jonas Ekblom and Bre Bradham.

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