SVB Securities upgraded Elevation Oncology (NASDAQ:ELEV) to “outperform” from “market perform” and raised its price target to $8 from $5, following the abstract release for EO-3021 (Claudin 18.2) ahead of ASCO.
“This is the first substantial clinical update for the Claudin18.2 ADC SYSA1801 as reported by Elevation’s Chinese partner, CSPC Pharmaceutical,” writes analyst, Andrew Berens, M.D.
“In our view, this dataset demonstrates a robust early efficacy signal for the drug and we believe firmly shifts the thesis to the Claudin18.2, following the company’s deprioritization of seribantumab,” he added.
Dr. Berens said the abstract contained Phase 1 clinical data for SYSA1801 (EO-3021) in Chinese gastric and pancreatic cancer patients, and the data will be presented at a poster and poster discussion at the conference.
“Notably, the abstract demonstrated that EO-3021 showed multiple partial responses and stable disease patients in a highly pretreated Claudin 18.2 positive populations,” he said, adding that the drug was well tolerated.
Dr. Berens noted that these data were generated exclusively in Chinese patients, and “we look for additional validation from the program in U.S. studies, which are expected to initiate the second half of 2023, with initial clinical data expected in 2024.”
Dr. Berens also said he is increasing his probability of success for the program to 45% from about 23% on the basis of this first dataset, strong validation of the target from competitor programs, which “we think has also resulted in high strategic interest in this target.”
