This Week's Pharma Highlights

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Mar 19, 2015

By Sarah Roden

It’s been a busy week in the pharmaceutical industry with new data emerging on trial drugs and M&A between drug companies. Here are some highlights from the latest ratings:

On March 18, analyst Joshua Schimmer of Piper Jaffray maintained an Overweight rating on Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR, Financial) but lowered his price target from $20 to $15. Nektar announced test results for NKTR-102, a drug that targets metastatic breast cancer. Unfortunately, the topline results did not show statistical significance.

Schimmer noted that although Nektar considers the NKTR-102 results a “near-miss,” he sees a potential “viable path forward.” He continued, “Pending regulatory clarity, we are stripping NKT-102 and associated costs from our model, but with royalties from Movantik and BAX-855 plus some additional partnered and wholly owned shots on goal, we maintain our OW rating.”

Joshua Schimmer has a 74% overall success rate recommending stocks with a +19.8% average return per recommendation.

The top analyst consensus for Nektar Therapeutics on TipRanks is Strong Buy.

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On March 18, analyst Jim Birchenough of BMO Capital reiterated an Outperform rating on Regulus Therapeutics (RGLS, Financial) with a $36 price target. New promising data was released on RG-101, a hepatitis C drug, demonstrating that the drug successfully lowers levels of the virus.

Birchenough noted the success of the RG-101 test and commented, “We continue to view a broad opportunity to shorten and simplify [hepatitis C virus] therapy, address patients with treatment failure and provide a novel option for difficult to treat patients with [the hepatitis C virus].” He believes the value of the treatment has “been under-estimated” and continues “to see significant value in RG-101.”

Jim Birchenough has an 80% overall success rate recommending stocks with a +57% average return per recommendation.

On average, the top analyst consensus for Regulus on TipRanks is Strong Buy.

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On March 18, analyst Michael Yee of RBC Capital reiterated an Outperform rating on Biogen Idec (BIIB, Financial) but did not provide a price target. Biogen will be releasing new data on its experimental Alzheimer’s drug, BIIB-037, on March 20.

Yee has high expectations for BIIB-037 and expects the drug to prompt “stabilization of cognition levels.” The study was performed over the course of one year and Yee expects to see a notable difference in cognition levels between study participants who received BIIB-037 and those who received the placebo. Yee notes that Biogen has strong fundamentals and a robust pipeline.

Michael Yee has a 73% overall success rate recommending stocks with a +16% average return per recommendation.

On average, the top analyst consensus for Biogen Idec on TipRanks is Strong Buy.

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On March 18, analyst David Steinberg of Jefferies downgraded Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP, Financial) from a Buy to a Hold with a $173 price target. Salix recently agreed on a deal to be taken over by Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) for $173 per share, an increase from the initial offer of $158 per share.

Steinberg noted that Salix chose Valeant’s bid over Endo International (NASDAQ: ENDP), though Endo rescinded its offer after Valeant raised its bid. He commented, “We view the likelihood of a successful tender close on or near April 1 as very high. We thus downgrade SLXP from Buy to Hold.”

David Steinberg has a 75% overall success rate recommending stocks with a +24.4% average return per recommendation.

On average, the top analyst consensus for Salix on TipRanks is Hold.

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To see more of the latest recommendations, visit TipRanks today.

Sarah Roden writes about stock market news. She can be reached at [email protected].