Janney: Nightstar Therapeutics Has 'Significant Upside Potential' With Retinal Disorder Treatments

Nightstar Therapeutics PLC NITE leads the market in adeno-associated virus gene therapy for the treatment of inherited retinal disorders, according to a bullish Janney analyst.  

The Analysts

Analyst Yun Zhong initiated coverage of Nightstar with a Buy rating and $34 price target. 

The Thesis

Nightstar retains close ties with the University of Oxford, which provides academic expertise as well as strong results from prior studies and the preclinical development of two new programs, Zhong said in the initiation note. (See the analyst's track record here.) 

“Nightstar's pipeline could bring a one-time treatment to a total of over 100,000 patients in the U.S. and EU5. Initial data from the XLRP program in September will be a major near-term catalyst and positive data should not only generate strong momentum for NITE shares, but could allow NSR-RPGR to become the first approved product for XLRP as well,” the analyst said. 

NSR-REP1 is on track to be the first FDA-approved gene therapy for choroideremia, Zhong said. The analyst expects approval in 2021 contingent on positive results from a Phase III study and projects sales of $400 million by 2026.

Preliminary data from 15 patients across five dose cohorts of NSR-RPGR is expected later this year. Zhong considers this data crucial to finalizing the regulation initiatives.

“The two preclinical programs will expand the market potential by almost threefold, so we see significant upside potential in Nightstar's pipeline. We believe a strong focus on inherited retinal disorders and gene therapy should allow Nightstar to bring these programs into the clinic efficiently."

Price Action

Nightstar shares were up 1.44 percent at $20.08 at the time of publication Wednesday. 

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