Barclays analyst Gena Wang raised her price target for BioCryst Pharmaceuticals to $8 from $6 following a deep dive ahead of the BCX7353 APeX-2 Phase 3 readout in Q2 for the prevention of hereditary angioedema attacks. The analyst believes APeX-2 is “well powered to allow for statistical significance” with only greater than 25-30% attack reduction. However, she continues to see some risk in the trial outcome and a high bar for future commercial uptake. Wang keeps an Equal Weight rating on BioCryst.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Deutsche: ‘substantial’ growth runway for Intuitive Surgical, starts at Buy
Deutsche Bank analyst Imron Zafar last night initiated coverage of Intuitive Surgical with a Buy rating and $630 price target. Intuitive is the dominant global leader in robotic surgery and one of the premier medtech growth stories, Zafar tells investors in a research note. Further, the analyst believes a “still-underpenetrated” worldwide surgery market leaves “substantial runway for continued robust sales growth.”
BARDA decides not to advance Pfenex anthrax programs
Pfenex disclosed last night that it received notice from the Department of Health and Human Services, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, advising the company of its decision not to exercise development options for cGMP manufacturing and potential Phase 1/2b study readiness for the company’s novel anthrax vaccine candidates Px563L and RPA563, collectively, the anthrax programs. In the notice BARDA stated: “While technical risks were noted, this decision was more of a reflection of the programmatic strategy around [BARDA’s] vaccine portfolio as a whole, and a lack of products for other urgent threats.” Following the receipt of the notice from BARDA and pursuant to ongoing discussions with BARDA, the company “is assessing the priority of this program in its portfolio.”
Novartis announces Chinese approval of Cosentyx for psoriasis patients
Novartis announced that the China Health Authority NMPA approved Cosentyx, the first-in-class interleukin-17A inhibitor for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adult patients who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. “Reimagining the management of psoriatic disease to provide patients with the ability to live their life free from the burden of psoriasis is a key focus for us,” said Paul Hudson, CEO Novartis Pharmaceuticals. “With Cosentyx, we are offering a new treatment to doctors and psoriasis patients in China which can act within 3 weeks, has demonstrated sustained safety in more than 200,000 patients worldwide and can deliver what doctors and patients are looking for.”
AstraZeneca downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS
UBS analyst Michael Leuchten downgraded AstraZeneca to Sell from Neutral and lowered his price target for the shares to GBP 54 from GBP 59. Last week’s oncology deal with Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo suggests limited cash generation in the near term and is a sign of slow margin recovery, Leuchten tells investors in a research note. He believes AstraZeneca can’t generate enough cash flow to support its current enterprise value
LabCorp upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies
Jefferies analyst Brian Tanquilut upgraded Quest Diagnostics to Buy from Hold.
Achieve Life Sciences completes second DSMB review of ORCA-1 trial
Achieve Life Sciences announced that the Data Safety Monitoring Committee, or DSMC, met on March 28, 2019 to conduct its second and final safety review of the ORCA-1 Trial. The DSMC is an independent committee that advises on continuation or stopping of clinical trials based upon safety and study conduct considerations. The ORCA-1 DSMC has had the responsibility for safeguarding the interests of trial subjects by assessing the safety of the interventions and monitoring the conduct of the ORCA-1 trial. The committee has reviewed the ORCA-1 data twice during the conduct of the study, and has concluded following each review that there are no safety concerns for subjects or study conduct issues, and the trial should continue for completion as planned. ORCA-1 topline efficacy and safety data are expected to be announced by end of the second quarter of 2019. “We are very pleased with the speed of enrollment and efficient conduct of the ORCA-1 trial, which is attributed to the commitment of the trial subjects, clinical investigators and their support teams,” said Dr. Cindy Jacobs, Chief Medical Officer at Achieve. “We look forward to sharing the data results in the near future.”
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