Summit Therapeutics stock rating reiterated at Buy by H.C. Wainwright

Investing.com - H.C. Wainwright has reiterated its Buy rating and $50.00 price target on Summit Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:SMMT), maintaining its bullish outlook on the biopharmaceutical company despite the stock trading near 52-week lows. According to InvestingPro data, SMMT currently has a market capitalization of $14.07 billion, with analyst targets ranging from $12.07 to $50.31, suggesting significant potential upside from current levels.

The firm highlighted that Summit’s ivonescimab, a PD-1 x VEGF bispecific antibody, has achieved clinical milestones unprecedented for PD-1 agents, including superior results in the China-based HARMONi-2 trial where it extended median progression-free survival to 11.1 months compared to 5.8 months for Merck’s Keytruda, with a hazard ratio of 0.51. InvestingPro analysis shows the company maintains strong liquidity with a current ratio of 5.13 and operates with moderate debt levels, providing financial flexibility for its clinical programs.

Data from the global Phase 3 HARMONi trial, which included patients from China, North America, and Europe, demonstrated nominal overall survival statistical significance with a hazard ratio of 0.78 and p-value of 0.0332, reinforcing the translation of progression-free survival benefits into overall survival impact.

H.C. Wainwright attributed Summit’s stock performance to misunderstandings about disclosure sequencing, hazard ratio differences across regions, and skepticism regarding multi-regional comparability, which the firm believes are misplaced concerns that have created a "highly risk-mitigated entry point" for investors.

The firm identified upcoming data readouts expected by year-end 2025, including HARMONi-2 overall survival and HARMONi-6 squamous non-small cell lung cancer results, as potentially transformative events that could "reset the PD-1 landscape" and drive Summit’s stock price beyond previous highs. For deeper insights into SMMT’s financial health, valuation metrics, and additional analyst perspectives, investors can access the comprehensive Pro Research Report available exclusively on InvestingPro, which covers over 1,400 US equities with detailed analysis and actionable intelligence.

In other recent news, Summit Therapeutics has been in the spotlight due to its clinical trials and analyst ratings. The company presented longer-term follow-up data from its global Phase 3 HARMONi trial at the World Conference on Lung Cancer, which evaluated the combination of ivonescimab and chemotherapy in treating certain lung cancer patients. However, this data disappointed some investors as it failed to validate previous promising results from studies conducted in China, raising concerns about the drug’s potential regulatory pathway in North America and Europe.

Despite this, JMP Securities reiterated its Market Outperform rating with a $40.00 price target, expressing a positive outlook on Summit Therapeutics. Similarly, H.C. Wainwright maintained its Buy rating with a $50.00 price target, following updates on the ivonescimab treatment. Notably, Akeso has completed patient enrollment in a Phase 3 registrational study in China evaluating ivonescimab against another therapy for advanced biliary tract cancer. These developments continue to generate interest and analysis from the investment community.

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