As great as Alexion (NASDAQ:ALXN) has shown itself to be with its orphan drug Soliris for rare kidney ailments, Intercept Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ICPT)
may be establishing a similar path in the until-recently overlooked
world of liver disease outside of hepatitis C. Intercept's lead compound
OCA appears to have broad utility as an anti-inflammatory,
anti-fibrotic liver treatment and the efficacy in nonalcoholic
steatohepatitis (or NASH) may unlock potential akin to that of new HCV
treatments.
It is important to point out, though, that there is a
lot of risk in biotech investing and particularly in companies where the
expectations are almost solely built around a single product. Making
matters worse, there is considerable uncertainty as to the true number
of potential patients for many of the diseases Intercept is targeting,
to say nothing of uncertainty regarding competition, pricing, and
clinical endpoints for clinical trials. Despite these risks, I believe
Intercept ought to be trading closer to $420 today and even then I
consider the underlying assumptions to be quite conservative.
Continue reading here:
Is Intercept Pharmaceuticals Building The Next Great Specialty Franchise?
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