HC Wainwright Downgrades Humanigen On Disappointing COVID-19 Study - What's Next - (HGEN)

HC Wainwright downgraded Humanigen Inc HGEN to Neutral from Buy and removed the price target based on the removal of COVID-19 from lenzilumab projections and the lack of near-term catalysts beyond COVID-19 that could potentially drive the shares.
The analyst looks to reassess valuation as the lenzilumab opportunities in graft vs. host disease, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, and CAR-T prophylaxis can potentially be important drivers for the shares.
Related: Humanigen's Lenzilumab Disappoints In NIH-Backed COVID-19 Study.
HC wainwright says that though the update was unexpected and discouraging, the endemic nature of COVID-19 means the demand for additional studies for variant-targeted treatments is likely to stay.
"We expect the company to deemphasize its COVID-19 program and strategically realign its focus on company-sponsored and partner-sponsored programs," the analyst added.
If the COVID-19 program were to proceed, a much larger study would be required, most likely in someone else's hands.
The analyst notes that enrollment in the Phase 2/3 RATinG trial of patients at high and intermediate risk for acute GvHD is on track for this quarter. Also, initial data from a Phase 2/3 study of lenzilumab in CMML (PREACH-M) is anticipated in early 2023.
Price Action: HGEN shares are down 79.8% at $0.60 during the market session on the last check Wednesday.

HC Wainwright Downgrades Humanigen On Disappointing COVID-19 Study - What's Next