BofA ups PepGen's PT on lead drug prospects

PepGen

12/01/2023 12:54

** Brokerage BofA Global Research raises PepGen Inc's
 PEPG.O  PT to $22 from $16
    ** BofA sees promise in lead drug candidate PGN-EDO51, for
treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a rare
muscle-wasting disorder that can lead to progressive weakness
and loss of both skeletal and heart muscle
    ** Says it is optimistic over the drug's enhanced delivery
levels of a molecule, called oligonucleotide, designed to target
the root cause of DMD and potential superior efficacy in trial
vs competitor assets 
    ** PGN-EDO51 met the main goal of an early-stage trial
assessing its safety profile, last year 
    ** Believes lead drug's data provides positive read through
to co's other early-stage assets given they use the same
delivery peptide backbone and mechanism of action
    ** BofA increases PEPG's gross pipeline plug to $500 mln vs
previous view of $350 mln 
    ** Brokerage also eyes on  a mid-stage study of the drug
that co plans to initiate in H1 2023 
    ** Drug developer's stock down ~5.4% since its May IPO 
 (Reporting by Pratik Jain in Bengaluru)
 ((Pratik.Jain@thomsonreuters.com;))