Humanigen Inc (HGENQ)

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Humanigen: A ‘Transformative Year’ Awaits, Says Analyst

https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/humanigen-a-transformative-year-awaits-says-analyst/

Accounting for many stocks losing a huge chunk of their valuations in 2022’s inhospitable stock market, analysts have been busy slashing estimates and price targets this year.

However, for H.C. Wainwright analyst Joseph Pantginis, there has been no such change of heart when considering the prospects of biotech company Humanigen (HGEN). Even in the face of FDA rejection and a stock which is down 89% over the past year, Pantginis remains undeterred.

The analyst reiterated a Buy rating for HGEN stock, backed by a $28 price target. If Pantginis is correct in his prognosis, investors will be sitting on gains of a barely believable 1455% in a year’s time.

This latest endorsement comes off the back of Humanigen’s Q1 results. Being a clinical stage biotech, the company has no product to sell, and the quarterly update revolved around the health of its finances and the pipeline’s progress. On the former, HGEN saw out the quarter with $69 million in cash and following the quarter’s end, raised around $18 million via its existing equity facility.

The latter, though, provides the basis for Pantginis’ optimistic outlook and is based around the potential of lenzilumab, indicated for the treatment of cytokine release syndrome related to Covid-19, CAR-T therapy, and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell therapy.

Enrollment for the Phase 2/3 ACTIV-5/BET-B study evaluating lenzilumab as a treatment for Covid-19 patients has been completed with top-line data anticipated this quarter. Following which, Humanigen will file its amended EUA with the FDA. Recall, last September, the FDA rejected lenzilumab, citing the need for more data before moving ahead. The company met with the FDA during the quarter and said talks were “productive” and that they have “gained alignment with the agency on the data and statistical analysis to support the amendment.”

Additionally, the protocol for the upcoming registrational Phase 3 SHIELD study of lenzilumab for the prevention of CAR-T therapy associated toxicities has also been agreed upon with the regulatory body and the first patient should be enrolled this quarter too. Lastly, enrollment in the Phase 2/3 PREACH-M study of lenzilumab in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia is also ongoing.

All the above are “catalysts” which could propel the stock forward, in what Pantginis believes could be a “transformative year.” “As we await updates from the ACTIV-5/BET-B study and the initiation of new trials, we are encouraged by the company’s efforts to move lenzilumab rapidly to commercialization stages, while increasing the asset’s footprint in numerous therapeutic contexts,” the analyst summed up.

Pantginis might have high expectations, but his take is no anomaly. All 4 analyst reviews on record are positive, providing the stock with a Strong Buy consensus rating. Moreover, while the average target is lower than Pantginis’s, at $21.75, the figure is still set to generate one-year returns of a huge 1108%.