H.C. Wainwright Starts ProQR Therapeutics N.V. (PRQR) at Buy

H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage on ProQR Therapeutics N.V. (NASDAQ: PRQR) with a Buy rating and a price target of $40.00. Analyst Andrew S. Fein noted a strong preclinical debut at NACFC 2014 last week.

"Distancing itself from the growing pack of companies with CFTR potentiators and correctors, ProQR employs antisense technology to correct the F508 CFTR mutation at the mRNA level. While the company is headed to the clinic later this year, based on our view of the sector and the quality of the company’s preclinical data, we believe that PRQR already represents a long opportunity for all investors with an interest in the cystic fibrosis (CF) space," said Fein.

"To investors who believe that Vertex (VRTX; Hold rated) will retain its hegemony in CF therapeutics and continue outperforming the biotech sector, PRQR represents a long hedge, as the only other public company dedicated to CFTR therapeutics. To investors who believe that Vertex’s CF franchise will be upstaged by equal or better potentiators and correctors from both small biotech and big pharma (reminiscent of what happened in HCV), PRQR represents a standalone long opportunity, due to its technology that mechanistically could supplant the potentiator/corrector paradigm in F508del (70% of CF population). Importantly, the applicability of the company’s RNA-based mutation-repair technology extends beyond CF and into any genetically driven disorders, making the further release of preclinical and clinical data platform-validating events in addition to value catalysts in and of themselves," he added.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on ProQR Therapeutics N.V. click here. For more ratings news on ProQR Therapeutics N.V. click here.

Shares of ProQR Therapeutics N.V. closed at $15.46 yesterday.

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