H.C. Wainwright launched coverage of Corvus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRVS) with a “buy” rating and $10 price target. The stock closed at $2.72 on March 9.
Corvus is focused on developing precision medicines to treat various cancers. Two lead product candidates, ciforadenant and CPI-006, both target adenosine-mediated immunosuppression, a novel checkpoint in tumor microenvironment that came into the limelight in the last 10 years.
“We believe Corvus is the front runner in developing adenosine pathway targeted therapies,” writes analyst Swayampakula Ramakanth.
Ciforadenant, an oral inhibitor of the adenosine A2A receptor, is being evaluated in combination with Tecentriq in Phase 1b/2 studies for the treatment of various tumors. “We are encouraged by the positive data to date and expect management to provide an update in June and initiate a pivotal Phase 3 study in renal cell carcinoma in early 2021,” he added.
Corvus also is conducting a Phase 1/1b study to evaluate CPI-006 in patients with advanced cancers. CPI-006 is an antibody targeting CD-73, the enzyme for adenosine production. “We believe the unique features of CPI-006, compared with its competitors could potentially deliver superior efficacy,” Mr. Ramakanth said, adding that Corvus expects to provide an update from the CPI-006 study in the fourth quarter of 2020, “which could be a major catalyst.”
