Juno Therapeutics Could Nearly Double On Data, Multiple Catalysts, Says FBR Analyst

In a report published Tuesday, FBR analyst Ed White initiated coverage of Juno Therapeutics Inc JUNO with an Outperform rating and a price target of $73. Analyst Ed White said that Juno was an early-stage biotechnology company developing immuno-oncology therapies for the treatment of both solid and liquid tumors. The company's prominent technologies included Chimeric Antigen Receptor, or CAR, and T-Cell Receptor, or TCR, which "genetically modify T cells to exhibit specific receptors that can recognize cancer antigens on the surface or inside of a cancerous or disease cell and kill the cancer cells," White wrote. The company had reported tremendous success with its product candidates in Phase I studies carried out for treatment of pediatric and adult patients with relapsed refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the FBR report noted. White said that Juno intended to soon start a pivotal Phase II trial of JCAR017 in patients suffering from relapsed refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The company also planned to file for FDA approval in late 2016 or early 2017. The company's collaboration with Celgene Corporation CELG for the development and commercialization of immunotherapies should allow it to accelerate the development of its product pipeline. Juno was also collaborating with AstraZeneca plc (ADR) AZN to "conduct combination clinical trials with one of its investigational CD19-directed CAR T cell candidates and MedImmune LLC's investigational programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint inhibitor, MEDI4736," White added.