Egalet's Best-In-Class Opioid Abuse Deterrent Continues To Impress

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its Overweight rating on Egalet Corp EGLT after it announced positive data of Egalet-002, in a Category 3, intranasal human abuse potential (HAP) study.

Egalet-002, based on the company’s Guardian technology, is in late-stage development for the management of severe pain requiring long-term opioid treatment. The study showed statistically significant LESS drug liking than immediate-release oxycodone.

“Even more impressive, in our view, is that Egalet-002 demonstrated statistically significant LESS Ease of Snorting and Pleasantness of Snorting in a head-to-head against long-acting OxyContin in an exploratory arm,” analyst Chiara Russo wrote in a note.

Despite Egalet has already two products in the market, Russo believes the real value comes from their proprietary Guardian abuse-deterrent technology, which the analyst termed “best-in-class.”

Egalet-002 is the second product in development currently in Phase 3 with data anticipated in the first half of 2017. Egalet’s first proprietary product Arymo, an abuse-deterrent, extended-release morphine formulation, was recently delayed due to the FDA missing the October PDUFA date.

“Within the space that Arymo would play, a small percentage of market share would equate to meaningful revenue for the company,” Russo added.

Russo has a price target of $21 on the stock, which, at last check, rose 5.6 percent to $8.33.