On Tuesday, JPMorgan adjusted its outlook on Beam Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BEAM), raising the stock price target to $44.00 from the previous $40.00, while maintaining an Overweight rating on the stock. The adjustment follows Beam Therapeutics' announcement of its fourth-quarter earnings for 2023, which included a per-share profit of $1.73 and a full-year loss per share of $1.72.
Beam Therapeutics reaffirmed its projected timelines for key data catalysts in 2024 related to its BEAM-101 and BEAM-302 programs. BEAM-101, targeting sickle cell disease (SCD), has seen the first patient dosing and engraftment in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The company expects to complete dosing for the sentinel cohort in the first half of 2024 and present initial data from multiple patients in the second half of the year, potentially at the ASH 2024 conference.
The company is also making progress with its in vivo base-editor BEAM-302 for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (AATD), having filed an additional Clinical Trial Application (CTA) with the European Medicines Agency (EMA), complementing a previous CTA filed in the UK in January.
The commencement of phase 1 trials is anticipated in the first half of 2024, pending CTA approval, with a possible regulatory update around the first-quarter earnings call, expected around May.
Beam Therapeutics is on track with its other in vivo base editor program, BEAM-301, for Glycogen Storage Disease Type Ia (GSD1a), with an Investigational New Drug (IND) submission expected in the first half of 2024. The company's financial standing remains robust, which supports ongoing operational progress.
According to JPMorgan, the early biomarker readouts in AATD and the progress with BEAM-101 in SCD are likely to drive the stock's performance, projecting that Beam shares will outperform their coverage in the mid-term.
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