William Blair Reiterates Outperform Rating on Rocket Pharmaceuticals (RCKT)

William Blair analyst Sami Corwin reiterated an Outperform rating on Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RCKT).

The analyst comments "Stock Thoughts: We view the patient death and subsequent clinical hold as unfortunate; however, we believe the pausing of dosing is necessary given CLS is a safety event not previously observed with RP-A501 or other AAV gene therapies, to our knowledge. While we cannot fully eliminate the possibility that the SAE was associated with the AAV9 vector, we are inclined to believe the SAE was related to the recent addition of the C3 inhibitor to the immunosuppression protocol given the only reports of CLS occurred in the two patients who received it. We look forward to additional details regarding the proposed mechanism of action underlying the CLS cases as well as a proposed path forward for the trial following discussions with the FDA. While the reported incidences of TMA are also concerning, we are pleased to hear that the patients who experienced them are doing well, and we are hopeful increased genetic screening will help minimize the occurrence of future events in the trial. With the stock down ~60% following the company’s announcement, we believe investors are hesitant about the program’s safety and time to clinical hold resolution. However, we continue to believe there is a path forward for the program once a modified safety plan is implemented. Importantly, we do not believe there is read-through to Rocket’s other clinical cardiovascular program, RP-A601 for the treatment of Plakophilin-2 (PKP2) associated arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), given that it utilizes a different AAV vector (AAVrh74) and does not include the C3 inhibitor in its immunosuppression protocol."

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

Shares of Rocket Pharmaceuticals closed at $6.27 yesterday.

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