An analyst's very bullish new research note was the spark that lit a fire under the stock of Vera Therapeutics (VERA +12.88%) on Tuesday. That extremely positive investor reaction boosted the share price of the clinical-stage biotech by almost 13% on the day.
Price advantage?
The analyst in question was Ryan Deschner of Raymond James, who reiterated his strong buy recommendation on Vera stock. He also maintained his $73 per share price target on the healthcare company.
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According to reports, Deschner's update centered on its leading pipeline drug atacicept. This is a therapy being developed to treat the kidney disorder IgA nephropathy (IgAN), also known as Berger's disease.
The analyst noted that a potential competitor recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Otsuka Pharmaceutical's Voyxact, has been priced by its developer at $30,000 per once-ever-four-week treatment. That's around double what Deschner believes atacicept's cost will be.
NASDAQ: VERA
Key Data Points
Competitive right out of the gate
If Deschner's price assumption is correct, or even somewhat in the ballpark, Vera would have a clear advantage when and if its treatment does well in clinical trials and is ultimately approved by regulators.
As ever in the biotech world, of course, the "ifs" matter. So far, though, atacicept's development has generally progressed well, so I'd imagine it has at least a decent chance of reaching pharmacy shelves.
