BTIG raised its price target for Voyager Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VYGR) to $31 from $23 after the company reported positive data from eight patients with Parkinson’s disease in a Phase 1 trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of VY-AADC and to further assess the posterior (from the back of the head) surgical delivery approach. The stock closed at $22.51 on May 3.
VY-AADC is a gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease. The treatment is aimed at increasing the patient’s ability to produce dopamine, a signaling molecule that helps regulate movement and emotional responses, which improves motor function and reduces the need for other Parkinson’s disease medications.
Analyst Thomas Shrader writes that the ease of delivery of VY-AADC and need for early intervention should lead to increased penetration.
While the posterior delivery of VY-AADC “appears to only have a marginal improvement on efficacy,” he said the Phase 1 data reinforce that it is generally considered an easier and faster procedure; de-risk the approach for ongoing and future studies; and continue to support that the best results are likely realized when VY-AADC is administered soon after disease onset (before dyskinesia/ICD develops).”
