Analyst Cuts Nurix Therapeutics Price Target By 38%, Cites Lymphoma Data

HC Wainwright analyst Robert Burns has lowered the price target for Nurix Therapeutics Inc NRIX with a Buy rating.

Considering higher operating expenses moving forward while also decreasing the terminal growth rate to 1% from the prior 2% and raising the discount rate to 12% from the prior 11%, the analysts have lowered the price target from $53 to $33.

Last month, Nurix Therapeutic presented clinical and preclinical data from its targeted protein degradation programs, NX-5948 and NX-2127, which are being evaluated in ongoing Phase 1 clinical trials in patients with relapsed/refractory B cell malignancies.

These data were shared at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland.

Regarding NX-2127, treatment with NX-2127 elicited BTK degradation of >85% at Cycle 2 Day 1 across dose levels in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and IKZF1 degradation. 

The analysts, Mitchell Kapoor & Raghuram Selvaraju, note that a confirmed complete response was seen in one (an 84- year-old woman with relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) following four lines of aggressive therapy) of two DLBCL patients treated with NX-2127.

The analysts compare at EHA 2023, Merck & Co Inc MRK presented updated Phase 1/2 results from the BELLWAVE-001 trial, evaluating nemtabrutinib (MK-1026) in B-cell malignancies. 

Nemtabrutinib 65mg once-daily (QD) generated a 32% ORR, a 24.4-month mDOR, and a 26.3-month mPFS in CLL/SLL patients. 

HC Wainwright reminds investors that, as seen at ASH 2022, NX-2127 elicited a 33% ORR in 15 disease-evaluable CLL patients. 

The analysts say nemtabrutinib's response rate is highly encouraging, especially when considering the fact that there is no current standard of care in the post-covalent BTK inhibitor (post-cBTKi) setting. 

Price Action: NRIX shares are down 4.17% at $9.65 on the last check Monday.