UpgradesAs these are upgrades, it's pretty safe to assume that Bloom Burton should have read "to US$31 from US$23. GLTA
After it received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell its drug for a severe form of lupus, a group of equity analysts raised their targets for Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AUPH-O,
They include:
* HC Wainwright’s Ed Arce to US$35 from US$30 with a “buy” recommendation. The average is US$24.
Calling the approval a “watershed event in the treatment of Lupus Nephritis,“ Mr. Arce said: As the first FDA-approved oral therapy for LN, we remain confident that the LUPKYNIS treatment regimen is poised to quickly establish itself as the new SoC therapy for new and uncontrolled or unresponsive active LN patients. We believe the entire Aurinia commercial team is aligned for a launch that aims for LUPKYNIS to be quickly and widely adopted by the LN community, including having previously reached payors covering over 100 million lives.”
* Bloom Burton analyst David Martin to US$23 from US$31 with an “accumulate” recommendation.
“This is a positive event, although one we had expected (90-per-cent probability) based on the strong results of the phase 3 AURORA trial,” he said.
* Cowen and Co. analyst Kevin Cacciatoreto to US$35 from US$30 with an “outperform” rating.