UPDATE: Noble Financial Starts Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (PPHM) at Buy; Positive on Phosphatidylserine Potential

Noble Financial initiated coverage on Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PPHM) with a Buy rating and a price target of $5.00.

Analyst Rahul Jasuja, PhD, offered the following points with today's initiation:

• Phosphatidylserine (PS) is normally restricted to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane; tumors expose PS on the external surface, mimicking cells undergoing apoptosis that then leads to an immunosuppressed state, benefiting tumor growth
• PS is a global immune checkpoint - antibody blockade of PS aborts multiple tumorinflicted immunosuppressive pathways triggering innate & adaptive immunity; inhibition of PS is distinct & complementary in effect compared to PD-1 or CTLA-4 inhibition
• Phase 3 trials in 2nd-line NSCLC combining PS antibody (bavituximab) with docetaxel is enrolling; taxanes such as docetaxel are synergistic in MoA with PS-blockade; safety/efficacy of bavituximab established across several tumors in Phase 1/2 trials
• Combination pre-clinical studies inhibiting PS and PD-1 or CTLA-4 show meaningful synergy; potential to address PD-1 refractory/unresponsive population - could have major medical and commercial impact; clinical trials with Yervoy & Opdivo (planned)
• Avid Bioservices, in-house contract manufacturing facility is expanding capacity, blunts cash burn - 2015 revenues of $26.7M; healthy cash position ($68M); investment thesis is driven by the potential of PS as a differentiated immune checkpoint

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Peregrine Pharmaceuticals click here. For more ratings news on Peregrine Pharmaceuticals click here.

Shares of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals closed at $1.31 yesterday.

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