Roth Capital Partners upgraded Syros Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SYRS) to “buy” but maintained its $12 price target, citing recent erosion of the company’s market value. The stock closed at $7.76 on Nov. 2 after trading above $12 in October.
Analyst Dr. Jotin Marango writes that the “risk/reward of a long position has begun to tip favorably,” especially ahead of the upcoming first clinical peek at the CDK7 inhibitor, SY-1365.
“While at previous valuations (about $300-million enterprise value), such an early program might have only provided fundamental downside protection at present (about $150-million EV), it may unlock upside depending on the quality of the first clinical data coming in mid-November,” he added.
The Phase 1 study of the CDK7 inhibitor, SY-1365, started dosing in May 2017, and data from the dose escalation will be presented on Nov. 15 at the Triple Meeting in Dublin. “Of note, this will be the first clinical data ever that we see from this agent,” he added.
In September, Syros announced the start of five expansion cohorts and last week, also announced the advance to IND-enabling studies of a second potent oral CDK7 inhibitor (SY-5609), which “in our view, suggests high conviction in the value of this target based on information at hand,” Dr. Marango said.
