Street Calls of the Week
Investing.com - H.C. Wainwright raised its price target on Avidity Biosciences (NASDAQ:RNA) to $87.00 from $68.00 on Monday, while maintaining a Buy rating on the stock. The company, currently trading at $44.74 with a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, has seen its shares surge over 43% in the past six months. According to InvestingPro data, analysts maintain a strong bullish consensus with price targets ranging up to $96.
The upgrade follows one-year data from the EXPLORE44 and EXPLORE44-OLE studies, which demonstrated reversal of disease progression across all key functional endpoints in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients.
The clinical results showed consistent gains across multiple measures including 4SC, 10MWRT, TTR, NSAA stability, and PUL improvements in both ambulatory and non-ambulatory patients, potentially redefining the DMD treatment landscape.
H.C. Wainwright highlighted the biomarker durability in the studies, noting nearly 25% of normal dystrophin (up to 58% in some patients), more than 80% CK reduction sustained through 16 months, with nearly 50% of patients normalized at one year.
The firm cited a favorable safety profile with only one drug-related serious adverse event (moderate hypersensitivity) and suggested these results strengthen the case for broad label inclusion, including nonambulatory patients, positioning Avidity to compete directly with both exon skippers and microdystrophin gene therapies.
In other recent news, Avidity Biosciences announced an upsized public offering of 15 million shares, priced at $40.00 each, expected to generate approximately $600 million in gross proceeds. This move follows the company’s earlier announcement of a $500 million public stock offering, with an additional option for underwriters to purchase up to $75 million in shares. The funds are intended to support the advancement of Avidity’s late-stage clinical programs and expand its commercial infrastructure. Analysts at BofA Securities have raised their price target for Avidity Biosciences to $65.00, maintaining a Buy rating on the stock. This adjustment comes after the company reported positive data from its Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) drug trial. TD Cowen has also reiterated a Buy rating with a $78.00 price target, highlighting compelling improvements in patients from the EXPLORE44-OLE trial. Raymond James continues to support Avidity with a Strong Buy rating and a $65.00 price target, citing confidence in the potential approval of the del-zota drug candidate. These developments suggest strong interest and optimism from financial analysts regarding Avidity’s future prospects.
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