Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

(ICPT)—Good news for ENTA? Can they avoid the side effects you speak of?

ICPT’s results are modestly bullish for ENTA insofar as an FXR agonist has been shown to have efficacy in a phase-3 NASH trial.

ENTA asserts that their FXR agonists (plural) won’t have Ocaliva-like (debilitating) side effects at the dosages used. This remains to be proven, of course, but ENTA’s proven drug-discovery expertise in liver diseases makes me inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

In the short run, the market may consider ICPT's nominal phase-3 success as bearish for ENTA (and other FXR companies) if investors mistakenly consider Ocaliva a serious commercial competitor in the NASH market.