On April 6, analysts at Wedbush led by Liana Moussatos highlighted upcoming events in the biotech sector. Here is what to watch for:
Ovascience Inc (NASDAQ:OVAS): In mid-April, OvaScience anticipates the first live births from their AUGMENT technology.
Ovascience focuses on developing fertility treatments for women. AUGMENT, the company’s leading treatment, aims to bolster the health of a woman’s eggs as she undergoes in vitro fertilization (IVF). AUGMENT was launched in certain IVF clinics last year but is not available in the United States. On March 26, OvaScience announced that AUGMENT produced positive trial results and improved pregnancy rates in women who had consecutively failed to conceive through IVF.
Wedbush currently has an Outperform rating on OvaScience with a price target of $57.
Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ICPT): Between April 22 and April 26, Intercept will be presenting a sub-analysis of FLINT, a type of clinical trial, at the European Association for the Study of the Liver.
Intercept develops treatments for chronic liver diseases and the company is currently testing obeticholic acid, or OCA, in patients with NASH, which is a cause of abnormal liver function. OCA has received breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA on January 29. On March 20, Intercept announced that OCA demonstrated efficacy in high-risk patients.
Wedbush currently has an Outperform rating on Intercept with a price target of $493.
Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TTPH): On April 27, Tetraphase will release data from Phase 3 IGNITE-1 study of eravacycline in cIAI and IGNITE-2 in cUTI.
Tetraphase creates antibiotics for life-threatening drug-resistant infections. Eravacycline, the leading product candidate, is an oral and intravenous antibiotic under development for multi-drug resistant infections. The drug’s safety and efficacy is being tested in an IGNITE study, or Investigating Gram-negative Infections Treated with Eravacycline. The cIAI study tests the drug’s efficacy in intra-abdominal infections while the cUTI tests its efficacy in urinary tract infections. Eracacycline has received Infectious Disease Product designation by the FDA, giving it priority review.
Wedbush currently has an Outperform rating on Tetraphase with a $51 price target.
Receptos Inc (NASDAQ:RCPT): Between May 16 and May 19, additional TOUCHSTONE analyses will be disclosed at Digestive Disease Week in Washington DC.
Receptos focuses on developing therapies for immune disorders. The company is developing RPC1063 for IBD, or inflammatory bowel disease, which is comprised of two autoimmune diseases; ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. In late 2014, Receptos announced that the TOUCHSTONE Phase 2 trial of the drug met its endpoint in ulcerative colitis.
Wedbush currently has an Outperform rating on Receptos with a $201 price target.
On average, the top analyst consensus for OVAS, ICPT, TTPH, and RCPT is Strong Buy.
Liana Moussatos has a 63% overall success rate recommending stocks with a +47.6% average return per rating.