UPDATE: Citadel Securities Color on United Therapeutics Downgrade

Citadel Securities, which downgraded shares of United Therapeutics Corp. UTHR, is providing some color on the stock. “We are downgrading UTHR shares to Neutral from Add following the announcement of disappointing data from the FREEDOM-M study evaluating oral treprostinil monotherapy in pulmonary arterial hypertension,” Citadel Securities writes. “The study demonstrated a median improvement in six-minute walk distance (6MWD) of 23 meters versus placebo (p=0.0125) in patients who had access to the 0.25mg dose at randomization; however, although statistically significant, the benefit was below investor expectations and raises questions as to the likelihood of success in the ongoing FREEDOM-C2 study. Importantly, the company intends to await data from FREEDOM-C2 prior to filing the NDA for oral treprostinil, which in our view represents a conservative strategy.” United Therapeutics closed Monday at $59.00.