Roth Capital Partners has raised its price target for Titan Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TTNP) to $10 from $7.75 after the FDA approved Titan’s six-month Probuphine implant for the treatment of opioid addiction. The stock closed at $7.07 on Friday.
“The hook here is forced compliance,” writes analyst Scott Henry. “The implant removes the risk of noncompliant patients relapsing back to opioids, including heroin. Adding difficulty to the compliance of oral buprenorphine, Suboxone, is the high street value of the drug, which effectively can be sold to support an opioid habit,” he added.
Probuphine will be sold by closely-held Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, with Titan receiving an approximate 17% royalty. FDA approval also clears the way for a $15-million milestone to Titan from Braeburn, which significantly improves Titan’s financial position.
Mr. Henry is forecasting 2016-to-2018 end user Probuphine sales of $2-million, $25-million and $71-million, reflecting a less than 5% market share for Probuphine.
