Plusses and Minuses Seen Related to Forward Pharma (FWP) Patent Interference; PT Trimmed

Leerink Partners analyst Jason Gerberry said motions relate to the Tecfidera patent interference show pluses and minuses for both Forward Pharma (NASDAQ: FWP) and Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) and says a settlement would be prudent. The firm lowered their price target to $43.00 (from $46.00) on FWP but maintained an Outperform rating.

Gerberry commented, "Through the first few months of the FWP vs. BIIB (OP) patent interference covering a Tecfidera patent, FWP has captured an advantage gaining +1-year spread on its priority date and BIIB was recently denied its bid to bifurcate the case into 2 phases, which would've delayed resolution. Based on feedback from MEDACorp patent specialists, we believe BIIB will likely lose the interference on grounds that its patent was anticipated by FWP's international ("PCT") patent. The biggest risk to FWP is losing on BIIB's substantive motion 1, which argues that its patent application is invalid for failing to satisfy the written description requirement. We believe that risk is low (~30%) given FWP's sizable priority advantage + low odds of prevailing on lack of written description motions (per Patent Trials Appeal Board [PTAB]). However, we lower our PT to $43/shr in conjunction with our Biotech team's revised outlook for Tecfidera."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Forward Pharma click here. For more ratings news on Forward Pharma click here.

Shares of Forward Pharma closed at $25.58 yesterday.

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