Piper Jaffray Thinks It Might Be A Good Time For BioMarin To Sell Itself

Piper Jaffray’s Joshua Schimmer believes there are several underappreciated risks ahead for BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. BMRN and would prefer greater visibility into some of the “moving parts” in the story.

Schimmer downgraded the rating on the company from Overweight to Neutral, while lowering the price target from $105 to $84.

Attractive Acquisition Candidate

“BMRN is pushing towards becoming an earnings driven story and it may take some time to 'grow into' its valuation,” the analyst mentioned.

Schimmer believes that to be more comfortable on the stock, additional data on the achondroplasia program and hemophilia gene therapy program is required, along with information regarding the long-term safety profile of Pegvaliase.

The analyst sees BioMarin as an attractive acquisition candidate, and believes that “it's a good time to sell the company, maybe the management team realizes that also.”

CEO Jean Jacques Bienaime recently sold BioMarin shares worth a total of $9.8 million.

Challenges & Setbacks

“BMRN has ground its way forward, as Vimizim has been a bright spot, Pegvaliase met its primary endpoint, early signs with the hemophilia A gene therapy program are encouraging, and progress with Batten's has been good,” Schimmer stated.

On the other hand, the setback in Latin America has been impacting other global names finally caught up to BioMarin Pharma in Q2, despite the company having originally refuted the existence of any risk.

Shares spiked on November 4, although management didn't provide any comment on the reasons.