franckreporter
Baird downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) to Underperform on Wednesday, noting a “very modest efficacy” rate seen in studies for the company’s non-opioid pain medication VX-548. However, the firm maintained its price target of $325 per share.
Analyst Brian Skorney’s reasons for the rating change contrast with data that Vertex (VRTX) disclosed on Tuesday from a Phase 3 program for the oral pain signal inhibitor.
According to the readout, VX-548 led to a statistically significant improvement in the primary endpoint for pain intensity against placebo in patients after certain surgical procedures.
Attributing Vertex’s (VRTX) 12-month gain of more than $30B in market capitalization mainly to the commercial prospects of VX-548, Skorney argued that “VX-548 looks no more efficacious than generically available pain meds.”
“We don’t have the same confidence in a lucrative commercial opportunity that seems to have underwritten a large part of the $30B+ increase in market cap over the last year,” Skorney added, calling Wall Street’s interest in VX-548 “irrational exuberance.”