Monday, July 9, 2018
Molina picked for PR Medicaid contract
Molina Healthcare announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Molina Healthcare of Puerto Rico, has been selected by the Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration to be one of the organizations to administer the Commonwealth’s new Medicaid Managed Care contract. Under the current contract, Molina serves approximately 316,000 members in the East and Southwest regions of Puerto Rico. Services under the new contract, currently expected to begin on November 1 would cover the entire island. Contracts will be executed pending the assessment and agreement to the contract terms by Molina and ASES. The base contract runs for a period of three years with an optional one year extension
https://bit.ly/2m1SDcG
Anthem upped to buy by BMO
Anthem upgraded to Outperform at BMO Capital on strong earnings view. As reported earlier, BMO Capital analyst Matt Borsch upgraded Anthem to Outperform from Market Perform and raised his price target to $290 from $275, saying he expects the company to post strong earnings growth over the next 4-5 years and execute under the new CEO Gail Boudreaux. The analyst cites his recent meetings with the company which boosted his confidence in Anthem driving higher earnings from the realization of annual savings in pharmacy costs, its partnerships and new fee-based arrangements with other health plans, as well as a deeper penetration of its “massive” employer customer base through “aggressive cross-selling of specialty product”. Borsch also expects the company to capture a “substantial share of the five-year pipeline of $80 billion in expected new Medicaid revenue”.
Walgreen cut to neutral by Citi
Walgreens Boots Alliance downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citi. Citi analyst Ralph Giacobbe downgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) to Neutral after assuming coverage of the name. The analyst lowered his price target for the shares to $69 from $76. The analyst finds it difficult to argue for “meaningful multiple expansion” given headwinds from industry pressures and a dynamic and changing backdrop. Further, Amazon’s (AMZN) recent acquisition of PillPack reignites “further competitive fears,” Giacobbe tells investors in a research note.
Teladoc target upped by KeyBanc
Teladoc price target raised to $70 from $50 at KeyBanc. KeyBanc analyst Donald Hooker raised his price target for Teladoc to $70 from $50 looking into 2H18 and following the acquisition of Advance Medical. The analyst reiterates an Overweight rating on the shares.
Kura target upped by Oppco
Kura Oncology price target raised to $35 from $27 at Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer analyst Leah Rush Cann raised her price target for Kura Oncology to $35 from $27, citing an increased average forward price-to-sales multiple of the biotechnology sector. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares.
Codexis starts Phase 1 for PKU oral med
Codexis announces that it has dosed the first subjects in a first-in-human Phase 1a dose-escalation trial with CDX-6114, its orally administered enzyme therapeutic being developed for the management of phenylketonuria. The initiation of the trial triggers a $4M milestone payment to Codexis from Nestle Health Science under their strategic collaboration announced in October 2017.
PTC ‘positive’ results from Phase 2 Duchenne Study
PTC Therapeutics announced the presentation of data from the Translarna Phase II Study 030 demonstrating that the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of Translarna in children from two to five years with nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy was consistent with that for older children. Importantly, the data also showed that treatment with Translarna resulted in improvements in timed function tests and the North Star Ambulatory Assessment from baseline at weeks 28 and 52, with mean changes showing as much as a 25% improvement after one year. The data at 28 weeks formed the basis of the recent positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency to expand the current indication of Translarna to include nmDMD ambulatory children from two to five years of age. The data was presented at the International Congress on Neuromuscular Diseases in Vienna.
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