H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage of Rubius Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RUBY) with a “buy” rating and $40 price target. The stock closed at $14.60 on June 25.
“We see limitless potential within Rubius’ pipeline and platform,” writes analyst Andrew Fein. As a leader in red blood cell (RBC) technologies, Rubius can generate red cell therapeutics (RCTs) with “unprecedented efficiency from its proprietary RED platform,” he added.
Ahead of the first-in-human data for RTX-134 in phenylketonuria (PKU) in the second half of 2019, “we point to the strategic pipeline layout led by a rare disease program, which we think is a relatively straightforward path to fast clinical proof of concept. The potential positive readout, we believe, could be de-risking and value-inflecting for the company.”
As a first oncology IND is expected by early 2020, “we think RTX-240’s unique clinical profile enabled by the designs of RCT should also prove highly differentiating in the landscape of cytokine immune stimulation,” Mr. Fein said.
“Note that we have currently only conservatively assigned value to RTX-134 in PKU and RTX-240 in non-small cell lung cancer, while leaving the rest of the programs as free call options,” he added.
Looking ahead, he said the company has an arsenal of therapeutic candidates ready to advance into the clinic, including RTX-224 and RTX-321 for solid tumors; RTX-T1D for Type 1 diabetes; and RTX-Uricase for refractory gout. “Thus, the broad scope of Rubius’ earlier-stage pipeline should offer optionality in the near-to-mid term,” he added.
