CV Therapeutics Shares Rise on Coverage
Friday January 19, 12:51 pm ET
CV Therapeutics Shares Jump on Cantor Fitgerald Coverage Initiation at "Buy"
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of biopharmaceutical company CV Therapeutics Inc. jumped Friday after Cantor Fitgerald initiated coverage on the stock at "Buy" with a $32 price target, implying the stock will more than double in value over the next year.
The stock gained 42 cents, or 3 percent, to reach $14.32 in midday trading on the Nasdaq. Shares, which have traded between $9.45 and $27.49 over the last 52 weeks, ended 2006 down 44 percent.
Analyst George B. Zavoico cited a 24-percent increase in Ranexa prescriptions each month since July as a catalyst for his initiation. The drug is a second-line chronic angina treatment.
"Despite ranolazine's (Ranexa) restrictive labeling, it has demonstrated respectable prescription growth and market penetration since launch," he wrote in a note to investors.
The results of a recently completed Phase III clinical trial on the drug, called Merlin and due out during the first quarter, will be positive Zavoico said. Specifically, he forecast that the drug won't be linked to life-threatening heart arrhythmisas, dispelling any safety concerns. That could help broaden the drug's use to secondary prevention of certain acute coronary syndromes, the analyst said.
The drug is also being studied for possible use as a first-line therapy for chronic angina. Food and Drug Administration approval for the new indications could come in early 2008 and the company could turn a profit by 2009, he said. |
