Stifel upgraded IDEADYA Biosciences (NASDAQ:IDYA) to “buy” from “hold” and raised its price target to $24 from $18 following additional darovasertib data in uveal melanoma, which revealed an improved mPFS in first-line metastatic patients. The stock closed at $14.93 on April 21.
“We think there’s precedence for strong pricing power in this setting, and that each additional month of use is therefore likely to have a material impact to sales perceptions,” writes analyst Benjamin Burnett, Ph.D.
Dr. Burnett said sales of Immunocore’s KIMMTRAK, in a subset of metastatic uveal melanoma, has helped validate this market, noting that the mPFS of darovasertib plus Crizotinib is now at seven months.
“We also think the ORR/PFS data compare better with the standard of care, and are supportive of Phase 2 success,” he added.
With IDEAYA shares trading at a fully diluted market cap of approximately $733-million, “we think the market is undervaluing darovasertib, and heavily discounting the non-darovasertib pipeline,” according to Dr. Burnett.
