Arrowhead's Landmark Deal With Amgen Sends Shares Shooting Higher

Shares of
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals IncARWR
climbed as much as 15 percent to $8.09 after it announced a joint collaboration with
Amgen, Inc.AMGN
to advance two of its cardiovascular (CV) RNAi programs.

Amgen will pay Arrowhead $35 million upfront, invest $21.5 million in equity to gain exclusive license to ARC-LPA and a second option on an undisclosed second CV target of Arrowhead.

Amgen will also pay Arrowhead up to $617 million in development, option, regulatory, and commercial payments in to low double digit royalties for ARC-LPA and single digit royalties for its undisclosed target.

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its Buy rating and $15 price target on Arrowhead saying "we have not seen a deal with such favorable economics in recent history for a compound that is one to two years from the clinic."

Related Link: Catabasis Get A Huge Lift From Collaboration With Sarepta

Meanwhile, Arrowhead took an edge over Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ALNY in ALN-AAT program, an investigational RNAi therapeutic targeting alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) for the treatment of AAT deficiency-associated liver disease.

Arrowhead's ALN-AAT program moved to Phase 1/2 trial with a clean safety profile at even higher doses, while Alnylam reported dose dependent liver enzyme elevations with doses from 3mg/ kg to 6mg/kg.

Analyst Elemer Piros does not see any liver safety concerns with Arrowhead's ARC-AAT, with shares of Alnylam falling as much as 8 percent to $70.58.

"Alnylam claims a sequence specific issue, but we cannot rule out a possibility that the issue is broader, chemistry-based for them. Regardless, Arrowhead is now clearly in the lead by at least 2–3 years with their AAT program," Piros wrote in a note.

At Time Of Writing ...

  • Alnylam shares were down over 8 percent at $70.53.
  • Amgen shares were at $167.46, down 1.33 percent.
  • Arrowhead was up over 9 percent at $7.68.

Full ratings data available on Benzinga Pro.

Do you have ideas for articles/interviews you'd like to see more of on Benzinga? Please email feedback@benzinga.com with your best article ideas. One person will be randomly selected to win a $20 Amazon gift card!
date
ticker
name
Price Target
Upside/Downside
Recommendation
Firm
Posted In: Analyst ColorBiotechLong IdeasNewsHealth CarePrice TargetReiterationAnalyst RatingsMoversTrading IdeasGeneralCantor FitzgeraldElemer Piros
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...