Biotech Values

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JPMorgan downgrades Enanta to Underweight, says NASH data falls short

JPMorgan analyst Eric Joseph downgraded Enanta Pharmaceuticals to Underweight from Neutral and lowered his price target for the shares to $57 from $86.

The EDP-305 results yesterday, while positive and fundamentally de-risking for the compound, fall short of delivering best-in-class status, Joseph tells investors in a research note.

The analyst is struck by the high rate of pruritus and related discontinuation in the active, 2.5mg dose arm. Despite conservative EDP-305 expectations into the readout, the ARGON-1 data "reduce these further still, while at same time dampen sentiment" on the broader FXR class in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, contends Joseph.

He sees Enanta shares continuing under pressure relative to the group in the near- to mid-term.

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