Roivant rises as analysts upbeat on drugmaker after Merck's deal for rival

Prometheus Biosciences

17/04/2023 12:40

** Roivant Sciences Ltd's shares  ROIV.O  rise 10% to $7.80
premarket after Merck's  MRK.N  $11 billion acquisition of drug
developer Prometheus Biosciences  RXDX.O 
    ** Both RXDX and ROIV are developing candidates in the TL1A
class, a promising new class of drugs against autoimmune
diseases
    ** SVB Securities says Merck's deal for RXDX suggests ROIV's
market cap of $5.4 bln is "significantly undervalued given that
it has a TL1A candidate with a roughly comparable profile and a
broad portfolio of assets with multi-billion-dollar potential"
    ** Jefferies also says ROIV trading at a significant
discount and mid-stage study data on co's candidate in
ulcerative colitis "looks just as competitive"
    ** All 9 brokerages covering ROIV rate the stock "buy" or
higher; their median PT is $14 - Refinitiv data
    ** Up to last close, Roivant stock had fallen 11% YTD vs a
3.7% increase in RXDX and 0.1% rise in Nasdaq Biotechnology
index  .NBI 

 (Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru)
 ((Leroy.Dsouza@thomsonreuters.com ; Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeroyLeo7;))