Replies to post #4803 on Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc (ENTA)

[rwwine]

Thank you.  I'm tied up in meetings and was curious if anyone was listening live.  Much appreciated. 😊

[DewDiligence]

Re: Jefferies webcast

The webcast revealed nothing genuinely new for readers of this board, IMO. The analyst asked some probing questions that Jay refrained from answering, in many cases because it is simply too soon to know the answer.

The enrichment of the RSVHR trial whereby age 75+ and high-risk patients comprise 80% of the patient pool was previously disclosed.

On the matter of partnering the RSV program, Jay said that partnering is ENTA’s “preference,” but I interpret this to mean no change in ENTA’s intention to run phase-3 only with a partner. Using the waffle word, “preference” is merely a negotiating ploy, IMO. I.e., it’s best for ENTA if prospective partners think ENTA could possibly do phase-3 independently.

[dewophile]

Also heard a lot of excitement and speculation regarding the potential of the ENTA’s STAT6 program

DD pointed out some additional slides regarding this program, and it sounds like they have made nice progress
It's worth looking at the KYMR phase 1 data (https://investors.kymeratx.com/static-files/796dff9a-9804-42e8-8d6c-ea7245d27b7c). They feel a small molecule won't knock down the target as well as a degrader, but that shouldn't be the case if trough levels of a small molecule have enough oomph (and ENTA has consistently been able to achieve this with other molecules). It also doesn't lower eosinophils, so that is where the KIT inhibitor can show differentiated activity (and perhaps be complementary). My guess is there is more excitement around stat6 than kit because the latter has some hematologic toxicity that is on target, and the moa is just not as proven as stat6 which is the immediate downstream target of dupilimab and also has good validation in human genetics. I continue to think some combo of kit up front and stat6 as maintenance w potentially lower doses of kit or holidays from kit could be a winning combination. Why wouldn't a large pharma be willing to take a flier on that now given the megablockbuster potential?