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>>> ProNAi Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNAI) with a valuation of $205.6 million is a clinical-stage oncology company that develops and commercializes a class of therapeutics based on its DNA interference (DNAi) technology platform for patients with cancer and hematological diseases.

The company's lead product candidate PNT2258 which is designed to treat cancers that overexpress BCL2, a validated oncogene known to be dysregulated in many types of cancer was granted orphan drug designation by the FDA earlier last week for the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The positive news has played a huge role in reversing the stock's price downtrend during the past week subsequently posting a 10 percent gain by the end of the week.

In a research note issued on Friday, analysts at Wedbush reaffirmed their "outperform" rating on the stock with a price target of $36. This represents more than 400 percent potential upside to the current share price which, although might seem pretty optimistic, is without a doubt achievable. This is due to the fact that in the United States 60,000 patients are diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma annually, and DLBCL represents more than 30 percent of those cases.

DLBCL often occurs in people in their 70s and with the increasing life-span these cases will continue increasing leading to the need for new treatment approaches. Currently, the most widely used treatment is a mixture of rituximab and several chemotherapy drugs with 40 percent of the patients seeing the disease return within two years of treatment. Should ProNAi yield positive results in its subsequent clinical trials expected in the third quarter, it has the potential to displace rituximab as the lead treatment option. <<<


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/booming-orphan-drug-market-provides-110000476.html