Analysts At Chardan See A 'Pattern Of Missed Guidance' For Esperion Therapeutics

Chardan Capital analyst Gbola Amusa offered commentary on Esperion Therapeutics Inc ESPR Wednesday morning following troubling company news related to the company's bempedoic acid.

Amusa suggested caution in the name is warranted and noted more than a handful of points which should give pause to investors looking to get involved. The most notable came argued "the release continued what to us is a pattern of missed guidance for Esperion."

The Chardan analyst highlighted six other preliminary concerns.

• "After 2H16, there may be few expected clinical catalysts for years.
• Bempedoic acid may launch in 2023 in the US, leaving very limited patent life (2025).
• We believe ESPR continues to overestimate the size of the statin intolerant (SI) market.
• We see extremely low likelihood ESPR will meet it's guidance on cash use...
• On the call, Esperion acknowledged FDA may see the standard of care as potentially changing, meaning the clinical programs Esperion designed may become less relevant.
• We believe it is a major flaw that Esperion does not plan to rechallenge its statin intolerant patients in trials from here," Amusa said.

  Chardan maintained a Neutral rating and $13 price target on shares of Esperion.