Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT)

[DewDiligence]

ICPT—The intense focus of today’s webcast’s on discrediting liver biopsy as a NASH diagnostic was a form of lobbying directed at members of the upcoming FDA advisory panel, IMO.

Ocaliva’s sales prospects in NASH will be substantially diminished if the FDA label mandates a pre-treatment biopsy to establish a threshold fibrosis level, and this is the kind of issue where the FDA will likely seek guidance from the advisory panel.

ICPT is well capitalized and doesn’t stand to gain anything from pumping the share price. The real target audience for today’s 3.5-hour “investor” webcast was not investors!