Ladenburg Thalmann initiated coverage of Armata Pharmaceuticals (NYSE American:ARMP) with a “buy” rating and price target of $9. The stock closed at $2.86 on June 18.
Armata, which was created from the merger of AmpliPhi Biosciences and C3J Therapeutics on May 9, 2019, is developing bacteriophages against specific, multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections.
Unlike currently approved antibiotics, phages are viruses that attack and kill specific bacteria. They are likely to be used in combination with antibiotics in MDR infections. The novel activity of phages is to infect and replicate within specific bacteria.
Analyst Michael Higgins writes that Armata’s two lead candidates are AP-SA01, a cocktail of three natural phages active against 95% of Staph. aureus strains, including MDR; and AP-PA02, a cocktail of four genetically-modified/synthetic phages specific for Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
He said AP-SA01’s Phase 1b/2a study is set to begin in the first quarter of 2020 in bacteremia, where it has demonstrated impressive efficacy, while AP-PA02 should enter a first-in-man Phase 1b study in 2020.
Preclinical programs include a partnership with Merck to develop an undisclosed synthetic phage, he added.
