SVB Leerink upgrades Calithera to "buy" on potential of cancer drugs

Calithera Biosciences

20/01/2022 12:36

** Brokerage SVB Leerink upgrades drug developer Calithera
Biosciences  CALA.O  to "outperform" from "market perform",
based on higher conviction in the potential of two of co's
cancer drug candidates
    ** SVB Leerink also raises PT on stock to $3 from $1; CALA
shares up 22.4% at $0.60 premarket
    ** Company had acquired the drug candidates, mivavotinib and
sapanisertib, from Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co  4502.T 
last year; it plans to initiate a mid-stage trial of mivavotinib
for a cancer that starts in white blood cells and a Phase 2
trial testing sapanisertib for a type of lung cancer in patients
with certain genetic mutations
    ** "Our more positive view is based on the fact that CALA
plans to evaluate these programs in biomarker-selected patient
populations where promising initial clinical data have already
been generated"- brokerage
    ** CALA shares had plunged 54.6% on Nov. 5 after it said it
would discontinue a mid-stage study of its drug candidate
telaglenastat in patients with a type of late-stage lung cancer
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2RW3HO
    ** Brokerage believes with the two cancer drug candidates,
co's turnaround story could be an attractive opportunity for
investors
    ** Up to the last close, stock had fallen 83.6% in the past
12 months

 (Reporting by Amruta Khandekar)
 ((Amruta.Khandekar@thomsonreuters.com;))