Roche's exit from pact builds pressure on Atea - SVB Leerink

Atea ASA

17/11/2021 11:13

** Shares of drug developer  AVIR.O  down ~15% at $9.73
premarket
    ** Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG's  ROG.S  exit from a
COVID-19 pill development partnership with AVIR puts more
pressure on Atea at a time when clinical execution is top of
investors' minds, brokerage SVB Leerink says
    ** ROG ended partnership with Atea to jointly develop a
COVID-19 antiviral pill, nearly a month after the treatment,
AT-527, failed to show a clear reduction in viral load in
patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 in a mid-stage study
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2RF2PP  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2S748C
    ** Investors are likely to view Roche walking away as
tantamount to Roche believing that AT-527 opportunity is limited
at best, and this may put pressure on the stock near term, says
brokerage
     ** "We still believe there is room for multiple players in
the COVID-19 space, and Atea could still secure another large
pharma partner later on" - SVB Leerink
    ** Up to Tuesday's close, AVIR down ~73% YTD

 (Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru)
 ((manojna.kalyani@thomsonreuters.com; +91  8061822700;))