Protagonist Therapeutics (PTGX) PT Raised to $40 at H.C. Wainwright

H.C. Wainwright analyst Douglas Tsao raised the price target on Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PTGX) to $40.00 (from $38.00) while maintaining a Buy rating.

The analyst commented: "Yesterday, Protagonist reported 2Q earnings in which the company reported $4.2M of collaboration from the Takeda (TAK; not rated) partnership for rusftertide. The key late-stage programs remain on track. The JNJ-2113 Phase 3 ICONIC-LEAD (in moderate-to-severe psoriasis) and ICONIC-Total (for special areas of psoriasis) is expected to complete the 16-week primary endpoint portion of the study in 4Q24 (November 2024). The 16-week primary endpoint portion of the Phase 3 ICONIC-ADVANCE 1 and 2 superiority studies in psoriasis, a head-to-head comparison between JNJ-2113 and deucravacitinib, as well as placebo, are expected to be completed in March 2025 and February 2025, respectively. The primary endpoint portion of the Phase 3 study of JNJ-2113 in pustular and erythrodermic psoriasis in ~16 subjects is expected to be completed in 1Q25 (February 2025). The company expected an NDA filing of JNJ-2113 for Psoriasis in 2026. In addition, the 12-week primary endpoint portion of the Phase 2b ANTHEM study of JNJ-2113 for the treatment of moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) is expected to be completed in September 2024. JNJ-2113 is the only oral IL-23 in development with blockbuster potential, and its mechanism is viewed to provide the best long-term efficacy. The program could bring up to $215M in milestone payments and 6-10% royalty on worldwide net sales. Protagonist reported cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $595.4M by the end of 2Q to provide a cash runway through YE 2027. The strong balance sheet supports the development of discovery programs. We highlight the company recently brought on Newman Yeilding as Chief Scientific Advisor; Yeilding comes to Protagonist from Janssen (JNJ; not rated) where he served as Head of Immunology Development and R&D. Given the progress in the late-stage programs, and we raise the PoS of IL-17 in HS from 35% to 40%, as increasing scientific research validated its MOA in the indications, we raise our PT to $40 from $38, reflecting our confidence in the programs."

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