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Friday, November 15, 2019

ResTORbio down 74% premarket after lead candidate flunks study

Thinly traded micro cap resTORbio (NASDAQ:TORC) plummets 74% premarket on increased volume in reaction to its announcement that lead candidate RTB101 failed to achieve the primary endpoint in a Phase 3 clinical trial, PROTECTOR 1, evaluating its ability to prevent clinically symptomatic respiratory illness in patients at least 65 years old.
The company has terminated development of the TORC1 inhibitor for this indication.
A conference call is in process.

Analyst action, Nov. 15

Agilent (NYSE:A) initiated with Hold rating and $85 (11% upside) price target at Stifel.
Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) initiated with Hold rating and $16 (flat) price target at Stifel.
Bio-techne (NASDAQ:TECH) initiated with Bur rating and $235 (15% upside) price target at Stifel.
Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) initiated with Hold rating and $53 (8% upside) price target at Stifel.
Danaher (NYSE:DHR) initiated with Hold rating and $150 (10% upside) price target at Stifel.
Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS) initiated with Buy rating and $110 (39% upside) price target at Stifel. Shares up 2% premarket.
Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ:GNCA) initiated with Outperform rating and $7 (217% upside) price target at SVB Leerink. Shares up 5% premarket.
Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) initiated with Buy rating and $345 (15% upside) price target at Stifel.
Mettler-Toledo (NYSE:MTD) initiated with Hold rating and $790 (11% upside) price target at Stifel.
NanoString Technologies (NASDAQ:NSTG) initiated with Buy rating and $28 (18% upside) price target at Stifel.
PerkinElmer (NYSE:PKI) initiated with Buy rating and $102 (16% upside) price target at Stifel.
QIAGEN (NYSE:QGEN) initiated with Hold rating and $33 (11% downside risk) price target at Stifel. Shares up 1% premarket.
Repligen (NASDAQ:RGEN) initiated with Buy rating and $105 (29% upside) price target at Stifel.
Waters (NYSE:WAT) initiated with Hold rating and $210 (2% downside risk) price target at Stifel.
Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) upgraded to Overweight with a C$5.85 (34% upside) price target at Cantor Fitzgerald. Shares down 13% premarket in U.S.
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) upgraded to Buy with a $4 (152% upside) price target at BofA Merrill Lynch. Shares up 12% premarket.
Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) downgraded to Hold with a C$25 (19% upside) price target at Canaccord Genuity. Shares down 3% premarket in U.S.
Leap Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LPTX) downgraded to Market Perform at Raymond James. Shares down 3% premarket.

Anchiano bails on bladder cancer gene therapy; shares down 33% premarket

Ultra-thinly traded nano cap Anchiano Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ANCN) slumps 33% premarket on light volume in reaction its decision to terminate a Phase 2 clinical trial, Codex, evaluating gene therapy inodiftagene vixteplasmid in patients with BCG-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).
The company decided to pull the plug due to the low probability of a successful outcome. It will focus its resources on its small-molecule pan-RAS inhibitor and PDE10/β-catenin inhibitor programs.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

FDA OKs Shionogi antibiotic for cUTI

Under Priority Review status, the FDA approves Shionogi & Co.’s  (OTCPK:SGIOY) antibiotic cefiderocol, branded as Fetroja, for the treatment of adult patients with complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI), including kidney infections caused by susceptible Gram-negative bacteria, who have limited or no alternative treatment options.
Fetroja also received Qualified Infectious Disease Product designation which provides for an additional five years’ market exclusivity in the U.S.

Acasti, Matinas rise on Amarin heart drug news

Acasti Pharma (NASDAQ:ACST) and Matinas BioPharma Holdings (NYSEMKT:MTNB) are jumping after hours following Amarin’s FDA panel win to expand the label for its heart drug Vascepa.
ACST is up 12.3% and and MTNB is up 12.2% in postmarket trading.
The two are similar-sized peers to Amarin in the space.

Aprea Therapeutics EPS beats by $0.59

Aprea Therapeutics (NASDAQ:APRE): Q3 GAAP EPS of -$5.29 beats by $0.59.

VIELA BIO EPS misses

VIELA BIO (NASDAQ:VIE): GAAP EPS of -$65.00 misses by $64.33.
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $198.2M