Takeaways On Unity Biotech's Clinical Data From A Bull Analyst

Positive results from primary clinical data regarding UBX1325 have H.C. Wainwright & Co. analysts bullish UNITY Biotechnology, Inc. UBX.

The Unity Biotech Analyst: Andrew Fein reaffirmed a Buy rating on shares of Unity Biotech with a $12 price target.

The Unity Biotech Takeaways: The release of preliminary clinical data from a Phase 1 study points to a transcendence of the reported favorable safety and tolerability profile of UBX1325, a small molecule Bcl-xL inhibitor, Fein said in a Tuesday note.

The trials were designed to test the safety of UBX1325, not the efficacy, yet managed to show a “rapid onset of vision improvement” and “beneficial retinal structural changes,” the analyst said.

This positive news is “supportive of UBX1325 advancement with the potential for development as monotherapy or in combination with SOC anti-VEGF therapy” and supports the benefits of senolytic drugs, he said. 

Senolytics contend “as a potential new evolution beyond standard-of-care anti-VEGF therapy” and provide benefits such as reduced vessel leakage “by targeting associated diseased vasculature, while presenting the chance to positively impact retinal function and vessel remodeling,” Fein said.

The $12 price target is derived from a 30x multiple on a taxed and diluted 2034 EPS estimate of $1.98 and an NPV DCF from 2021-2034 using a discount rate of 13% and growth rate of 1%, the analyst said.

Valuation choices and assumptions are in line with other early developmental-stage biopharmaceutical companies, he said.

UBX Price Action: Shares of Unity Biotech were down 1.34% at $4.41 Tuesday.