Prudential starts NPS Pharma, 7 others
Wed Oct 20, 2004 11:49 AM ET
BANGALORE, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Prudential Equity Group on Wednesday initiated coverage of NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NPSP.O: Quote, Profile, Research) with an "overweight" rating and a 12- to 18-month price target of $28.
Analyst Jason Zhang, in a note to clients, also began coverage of seven other pharmaceutical companies. His rating on NPS reflected its main drug for osteroporosis Preos, which has shown good clinical data and a "high probability of approval".
Zhang also initiated three other pharmaceutical firms with "overweight" ratings, setting price targets for Protein Design Labs Inc. (PDLI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) at $27, Oscient Pharmaceuticals (OSCI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) at $8 and Celgene Corp. (CELG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) at $68.
Shares of Oscient, which launched an antibiotic in September, were up nearly 20 percent in morning trade to $3.27 on the Nasdaq.
Zhang initiated two pharmaceutical companies with "neutral" ratings -- MGI Pharma Inc. (MOGN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) with a price target of $30 and Abgenix Inc. (ABGX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) at $13.
He started Telik Inc. (TELK.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) with a "underweight" rating and a price target of $13 and $20 respectively.
Zhang said Wall Street had assigned too high a value to Telcyta, Telik's most advanced product, and may have overlooked "design deficiencies" in one of the Phase III trials on ovarian cancer patients.
In Onyx's case, Zhang said that the Street had placed too much confidence in the possibility of an early new drug application filing for BAY 43-9006, the company's only product in clinical trials to treat kidney cancer. |
