Assembly Biosciences announced that the company will have an oral presentation of the full data set from the Phase 1b study of ABI-H0731 at the upcoming American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, or AASLD. The oral presentation at AASLD will review final results of the Phase 1b study in patients with chronic hepatitis B, or HBV infection, including safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of ABI-H0731, as well as quantitative changes in HBV DNA, RNA and viral antigens. ABI-H0731 was safe and well tolerated, with dose dependent antiviral effects at doses ranging from 100 to 400 mg given orally once daily, and RNA declines paralleled the observed DNA declines. The company presented interim results of the study at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, or EASL.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Bio-Techne price target raised to $230 from $210 at Argus
Argus analyst David Toung raised his price target on Bio-Techne to $230 and kept his Buy rating, saying the company appears to be on track for ongoing “solid” revenue growth thanks to the domestic and international demand for its products. The analyst is also positive on Bio-Techne’s continued expansion through acquisitions such as its recent purchase of Quad Technologies, producing advanced reagents for clinical and research use, and Exosome Diagnostics, marketing a noninvasive liquid biopsy diagnostic test for prostate cancer. Tough further cites the company’s internal development, including its “recent initiative to advance cell and gene therapy research and ex vivo cell processing”.
Jefferies sees Intercept moving higher after ‘mixed’ Gilead data
Jefferies analyst Michael Yee views Gilead Sciences’ (GILD) new six-month nonalcoholic steatohepatitis data as “mixed and undifferentiated.” As such, he thinks shares of Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT) probably continue to move higher. The stock is likely to retrace back up into year-end and the first half of 2019 as Street realizes Intercept’s Phase III will be positive and de-risked, Yee tells investors in a research note. He says the company has had various competitor Farnesoid X receptor data in Phase I/II read out over the past year or and that these have ended up not too differentiated. This has removed some of the competitive overhang on Intercept, the analyst contends. Yee keeps a Buy rating on the shares with a $135 price target.
Arena reports ‘positive’ Phase 2 data for hypertension med ralinepag
Arena Pharmaceuticals announced positive data from a planned interim analysis of the ongoing open-label extension of the Phase 2 trial of its investigational drug candidate ralinepag, a next-generation, oral, selective and potent prostacyclin receptor agonist in development for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Patients who continued on ralinepag in the open-label extension had a median treatment duration of 1.8 years at the time of right heart catheterization. In these patients, sustained improvements from baseline in the original study were observed for PVR and 6MWD. Patients switching from placebo to active drug had a median ralinepag treatment duration of 1.4 years at the time of RHC. In these patients, a similar magnitude of improvement was observed for PVR. In both groups, these long-term changes in PVR and 6MWD were observed in a population where the majority of patients were already receiving dual combination PAH background therapy. Adverse events observed in this extension study were consistent with the known profile of prostacyclin therapies for the management of PAH, with headache and nausea being the most commonly reported. Among patients who continued ralinepag in the open-label extension, the incidence rate of AEs was lower relative to the randomized Phase 2 study, suggesting that AEs related to tolerability are reduced after initial drug titration.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2798353
Centene price target raised to $158 from $146 at Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer analyst Michael Wiederhorn raised his price target for Centene to $158 from $146 given the company’s continued bullish prospects. The analyst believes the company remains well-positioned due to stable cost-trend and the potential for growth in the coming years, particularly in the Medicare and Exchange businesses. Furthermore, the recent integration of the Fidelis deal remains on track, and the additional accretion/synergies should drive incremental earnings growth in 2019 and beyond, he contends. Wiederhorn reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2798361
Cellectar Biosciences updates interim overall survival data from myeloma trial
Cellectar Biosciences updates interim overall survival, or OS data from the company’s ongoing Phase 1b clinical trial evaluating CLR 131 for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, or MM. The results to date show that OS is currently at 19.4 months. Cellectar continues to monitor these patients and intends to update OS results as data become available. All 15 patients from the Phase 1b, single-dose cohorts were heavily pretreated, receiving an average of 5 previous lines of multidrug therapy including anti CD38, immunomodulating drugs and proteasome inhibitors. All patients were relapsed or refractory to at least one proteasome inhibitor and IMiD. Most patients presented with advanced stage 2 or 3 disease and 67% had previously received at least 1 stem cell transplant.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2798367
Seattle Genetics price target raised to $98 from $90 at RBC Capital
RBC Capital analyst Kennen MacKay raised his price target on Seattle Genetics to $98 and kept his Outperform rating, saying its ECHELON-2 trial “exceeded best case scenario” with a “surprise” overall survival benefit. The analyst notes that the results were a “clean win with E-2’s magnitude of PFS benefit”, raising his probability of success for the program to 100% from 75%.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2798375
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)