Analysts at Oppenheimer initiated coverage of Galena Biopharma, placing an Outperform rating on the stock with a 12-18-month price target of $6. The firm centered its valuation on Galena’s NeuVax drug candidate and recently commercialized Abstral.
Galena is developing and commercializing a portfolio of oncology treatments to address unmet medical needs. Among other candidates is NeuVax, for the treatment of breast cancer – the company expects to complete the NeuVax phase 3 enrollment early next year. Abstral® is the company’s FDA-approved therapy designed to improve the quality of life for cancer patients suffering from breakthrough cancer pain but that have developed a tolerance to opioid (narcotic) pain management.
Oppenheimer touched on the following key items, as quoted:
• “In our view, the Phase I/II study of NeuVax met its goal of confirming NeuVax’s safety, identifying patients with the best response, and providing sufficient information to commence a pivotal (PRESENT) study. We are optimistic about the PRESENT study outcome.
• “Some investors expressed concern due to the inverse correlation of NeuVax response and HER2 expression level. While a correlation would be expected for an antibody treatment, we believe that vaccines don’t have to correlate to antigen expression. In some cases, high antigen expression may lead to immune tolerance.
• “Commercially, we believe that NeuVax has no direct competition. Despite several recent new drugs to treat HER2 positive breast cancer, these drugs target only the high expressors. As such, the low HER2 expression patients have no targeted therapy options.
• “In addition to NeuVax, Galena recently commenced actively marketing Abstral for breakthrough cancer pain. As a sublingual fentanyl tablet, Abstral offers an attractive therapeutic option for some patients. We currently view Asbtral as an upside to our valuation.
• “The key milestones for Galena include ongoing Abstral scripts and quarterly results, an update on NeuVax at the SABCS conference on December 10-14th, and commencement of the FBP Phase I/II study around year-end.”
For more information visit www.galenabiopharm.com
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