Ladenburg Thalmann downgraded Neovasc (NASDAQ:NVCN) to “neutral” from “buy” and slashed its price target to 8 cents from $1, reflecting reduced revenue projections coupled with a greatly increased number of shares outstanding. The stock closed at 4 cents on August 8.
Analyst Jeffrey Cohen writes that Neovasc held a conference call to discuss second quarter results. Reducer remains the sole contributor to sales and experienced the strongest quarter of growth with an increase of 64%.
The Neovasc Reducer has been shown to be a safe and effective treatment for refractory angina, using a procedure similar to a coronary stent implant.
Mr. Cohen said commercial activities for Reducer in a number of European countries continues to go well with increasing number of centers and physicians. Clinicians in Germany have previously or are in the process of negotiating with insurance for further premium reimbursement decisions, which could increase implantations, he added.
The first compassionate use case was announced recently in the U.S. To date, he said Reducer has been implanted in a total of 141 patients as part of the Reducer I trial, which is a post-market, real-world, multi-center study.
In addition, Mr. Cohen said the company is pursuing U.S. market entry through COSIRA-II trial, which received IDE approval from the FDA in 2017.
