Why miRagen Therapeutics Shares Could See 60% Upside By 2018

Miragen Therapeutics, Inc. MGEN appears to be an “attractive investment opportunity,” with its microRNA pipeline demonstrating early clinical efficacy, the presence of near-term catalysts and the potential for “multi-billion dollars in product sales,” Wedbush’s Liana Moussatos said in a report.

Moussatos initiated coverage of miRagen Therapeutics with an Outperform rating and a price target of $19.

Promising Lead Candidates

“Using established microRNA disease targets and pathways, each program is progressively de-risked early in development,” Moussatos wrote. miRagen Therapeutics currently has two lead programs, namely MRG- 106, a miR-155 inhibitor for hematologic malignancies, and MRG-201, a miR-29 mimetic for fibrotic diseases.

“Both programs have established clinical proof of mechanism, demonstrated single dose target engagement, initial efficacy and an acceptable safety and tolerability profile in our view,” the analyst commented.

Related Link: miRagen Therapeutics and Signal Genetics Sign Merger Agreement

Market Potential

The gross peak annual sales of MRG-106 is estimated to reach ~$1 billion in 2030 for cutaneous T-cell lymphomas–mycosis fungoides, while a potential expansion into diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma could contribute an additional $1 billion in 2027, Moussatos said.

“We project MRG-201 can achieve about $90 million for peak sales in 2028 for skin fibrosis indications (keloids). However, we see more commercial potential to treat other fibrotic diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) which we project gross peak annual sales could reach over $1 billion in 2028,” the analyst wrote.

MiRagen Therapeutics announced it has ~$60 million in cash. This would likely last through 2018, the Wedbush report added.