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Investing.com -- RAPT Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RAPT) stock gained 2.9% Friday after Leerink analyst Thomas J. Smith upgraded the company to Outperform from Market Perform, citing the promising outlook for its lead drug candidate in food allergies.
Smith raised his price target on RAPT to $37 from $16, representing significant upside potential from current levels. The upgrade centers on RPT904, the company’s half-life extended anti-IgE antibody being developed for food allergies and other IgE-mediated diseases.
The analyst highlighted RPT904’s potential advantages over existing treatments like Roche and Novartis’s Xolair, noting that RAPT’s drug could enable less frequent dosing (every 8-12 weeks versus every 2-4 weeks for Xolair) due to its longer half-life and greater binding affinity.
Smith pointed to the substantial market opportunity, with approximately 17 million diagnosed food allergy patients in the U.S. alone. He also noted Xolair’s rapid uptake in this indication, with about 60,000 patients using the drug within the first six quarters after launch.
In his analysis, Smith projects worldwide sales of approximately $2.1 billion for RPT904 by 2035, representing about $34 per share in risk-adjusted net present value with a 45% probability of success.
RAPT plans to initiate a placebo-controlled Phase 2b study for RPT904 in adolescents and adults with food allergies by year-end. Meanwhile, near-term data catalysts are expected in the second half of 2025 from RAPT’s China-based partner Jemincare, which is evaluating the drug in Phase 2 trials for chronic spontaneous urticaria and asthma.
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