PRA Health price target raised to $120 from $110 at SunTrust

SunTrust analyst Sandy Draper raised his price target on on PRA Health to $120 and kept his Buy rating after its Q4 earnings beat and better than expected outlook for Q1. The analyst cites the company’s positive “leading indicators”, including upward and strong trend in RFPs and a 20% increase in its backlog with a “peer-leading backlog burn and low cancellation rates”. Draper expects PRA Health to “continue to grow top- and bottom-line above industry average as it builds scale closer to the level of more mature peers” and also sees shares as undervalued relative to the historical multiples of its peer group.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2873567

Mirati Therapeutics price target raised to $77 from $66 at Citi

Citi analyst Yigal Nochomovitz raised his price target for Mirati Therapeutics to $77 but keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The analyst says he continues to have “well above-average” expectations for Mirati’s KRAS G12C inhibitor MRTX849, “even taking the unusual step” of raising his probability of success to 25% ahead of any Phase 1 data. However, the stock is now up 70% year-to-date and is already ascribing a ~25% probability of success to MRTX849, Nochomovitz tells investors in a research note.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2873571

Bio-Techne on track for continued solid revenue growth, says Argus

Argus analyst David Toung believes Bio-Techne remains on-track for continued solid revenue growth driven by strong domestic and international demand for its products. He lowered his estimates to reflect earnings dilution from its recent acquisition, but noted the company is targeting $1B in revenues by 2022. Toung reiterated his Buy rating and $230 price target on Bio-Techne shares.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2873575

Portola Pharmaceuticals price target raised to $42 from $30 at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer analyst Jay Olson raised his price target for Portola Pharmaceuticals to $42 from $30 as the company’s update highlights increased focus on the U.S. Andexxa launch, positive CHMP opinion for andexanet in Europe, feedback from end of Phase 2 meeting with FDA for cerdulatinib, and $125M debt financing agreement. The analyst views all of these items as positives for Portola Pharmaceuticals’ shareholders and reiterates an Outperform on the stock.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2873581

PTC Therapeutics to expand product portfolio in LatAm with WAYLIVRA

PTC Therapeutics (PTCT) announced that its partner, Akcea Therapeutics, affiliate of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS), received a positive opinion for WAYLIVRA by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency. PTC plans to initiate activities to bring WAYLIVRA to patients in Latin America following European Commission ratification.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2873605

BioXcel reports Merck KgAA, Pfizer added to collaboration with Nektar

BioXcel Therapeutics (BTAI) announced the addition of Merck KGaA (MKGAY) and Pfizer (PFE) to its Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) clinical collaboration to evaluate a novel triple combination therapy in pancreatic cancer. The collaboration now includes avelumab, BXCL701 and NKTR-214 as a potential combination therapy for pancreatic cancer. Avelumab is a human anti-programmed death ligand co-developed and co-commercialized by Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer. BXCL701 is an orally-available systemic innate-immune activator that inhibits dipeptidyl peptidase 8/9 and FAP developed by BTI. NKTR-214 is a CD122-biased agonist developed by Nektar. BTI is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical development company utilizing novel artificial intelligence approaches to identify the next wave of medicines across neuroscience and immuno-oncology. Under the collaboration, BTI will be responsible for initiating and managing the clinical program, with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer supplying avelumab and Nektar supplying NKTR-214. BTI and Nektar will equally share all development costs. The primary objectives of the study are to evaluate safety and efficacy of the triple combination of BXCL701, NKTR-214 and avelumab for the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer. Additionally, correlative immune activation markers will be evaluated in blood and tumor tissue.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2873607

CVS could benefit from kidney disease treatment changes

CVS (CVS) could benefit from changes in the way the government pays for kidney disease treatment, Reuters reports. The proposed changes would favor lower cost home treatment, an area where CVS has been making a significant push, and that the change could present a risk to dialysis clinic operators DaVita (DVA) and Fresenius Medical Care (FMS)
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2873621