Rodman ups Alnylam price target to $19

Rodman & Renshaw has raised its year-end price target for “market outperform-rated” Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) to $19 from $12, based on changes to the company’s business model and a sum-of-the-parts analysis.

Noting that Alnylam has made considerable progress in its clinical development programs in the past six months, analyst Michael King writes that he has been encouraged by the company’s “success in advancing a number of its programs, particularly the establishment of human proof-of-concept data with ALN-TTR01, the demonstration of robust, statistically significant efficacy with the company’s PCSK9 program in a Phase 1 trial, and the development of the GalNAc-conjugated delivery approach allowing subcutaneous delivery for the TTR programs, among others.”

Mr. King also gives the company high marks for prioritizing its resources in a recent restructuring, which should result in savings of about $20 million in 2012 operating expenses.

“We believe the company has made considerable progress in demonstrating the clinical potential of its pipeline programs, and hence the value of Alnylam’s platform and intellectual property has increased,” he said. “We continue to believe over the course of time the company’s value can multiply several-fold as its pipeline programs progress.”