UBS downgrades Iovance on sluggish uptake of skin cancer drug

Iovance Biotherapeutics

16/05/2025 17:06

** Brokerage UBS downgrades drugmaker Iovance Biotherapeutics IOVA.O to "neutral" from "buy", trims PT to $2 from $17

** New PT still implies a 13.6% upside to the stock's last close

** Iovance's sales of its skin cancer drug, Amtagvi, were lower-than-expected in the first quarter of 2025, and the full-year forecast was reduced due to a slower-than-expected ramp up - brokerage

 ** UBS believes the slower ramp up is due to implementation issues, insufficient hospital infrastructure, limited resources, and reimbursement hurdles

**  "Higher drop out rates seen in 1Q25 seem to indicate non-optimal patient selection and additional physician education will likely be required" - UBS

** Including session's moves, IOVA stock down 77.4% YTD

(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan)

((Padmanabhan.Ananthan@thomsonreuters.com))