NASH Sympathy Plays On Tobira Therapeutics Deal.

Shares of Tobira Therapeutics Inc TBRA soared higher by more than 700 percent on Tuesday after the company was acquired by Allergan plc Ordinary Shares AGN.

The massive premium Allergan is paying in Tobira's stock price has many investors questioning if any of Tobira's peers are equally attractive in the eyes of a much larger pharmaceutical player.

Tobira is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the development of therapies to treat non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other liver diseases.

Related Link: Tobira Therapeutics Up 760% Following Allergan Buyout, Liver Drug A Key Focus

Logribel Biostocks noted in a Seeking Alpha report back in April that there are several product candidates undergoing Phase 3 and Phase 2 trials. The report further stated that there are no FDA-approved therapies for NASH, and the market could be worth $35 billion by 2025.

Logribel Biostocks included a list of companies undergoing trials for NASH related therapies. Of note, Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc CNAT was trading higher by more than 20 percent on Tuesday.

The research report stated that Conatus' Emricasan has already been granted a Fast Track designation for the cirrhosis indication (but not in NASH fibrosis) and launched the ENCORE- NF Phase 2 trial in NASH patients with fibrosis in 2016 with results expected in late 2018 or early 2019.

Shares of Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc ICPT were also trading higher by more than 7 percent on Tuesday. However, Logribel Biostocks' report suggested that Intercept "will probably need to raise additional capital to complete its pivotal NASH trial."

Other companies listed in Logribel Biostocks' report and their relative stock movement at time of writing include:

• Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD +3.79 percent.
• Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd GLMD +26.85 percent.
• Galectin Therapeutics Inc GALT +17.37 percent.
• MediciNova, Inc. MNOV +0.08 percent.
• Novo Nordisk A/S (ADR) NVO +1.16 percent.

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