H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage of Foghorn Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FHTX) with a “buy” rating and price target of $25. The stock closed at $13.68 on Nov. 19.
Foghorn is a leader in the field of chromatin biology. The company’s Gene Control Platform can identify and target an array of genetic dependencies, stemming from the chromatin regulatory system (CRS) that leads to oncogene addiction.
“On par with immuno-oncology and cell therapies, we believe medicines based on targeting breakdowns in CRS have the potential to become a formidable new class of cancer therapeutics,” writes analyst Andrew Fein.
Dysregulation of the CRS has implications in up to 50% of all cancers, which translates to a global market opportunity of 2.5 million people, he added.
“Our positive thesis for Foghorn is centered around the company’s ability to produce fully assembled barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) chromatin remodeling complexes at scale to fuel their proprietary drug development, which has been a key barrier to entry in the drugging of the CRS,” Mr. Fein said.
Foghorn is focused on the BRG1/BRM associated factors BAF complex, which is mutated in 20% of cancers and belongs to the SWI/SNF family chromatin remodeling complex, he added.
Mr. Fein said Foghorn’s platform so far has generated two clinical candidates in Phase 1: FHD-286, which is being developed against uveal melanoma and acute myeloid leukemia, and FHD-609, targeting patients with synovial sarcoma.
He said preclinically, both programs have shown robust efficacy/tolerability data, heading into initial clinical readouts in the fourth quarter of 2021.
