Fulcrum Therapeutics (FULC) PT Raised to $24 at Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners analyst Joseph P. Schwartz raised the price target on Fulcrum Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FULC) to $24.00 (from $20.00) while maintaining a Outperform rating.

The analyst comments "FULC presented strong initial data from cohort 4 of the Ph 1b PIONEER study in sickle cell disease (SCD) which pleasantly surprised us and lands in our bull case scenario. The data presented at ASH clearly depict a dose response for pociredir at the 20mg dose vs. the previously presented 12mg cohort, and we believe the strength of these early data should support upside for FULC stock as the potential for pociredir in SCD is further recognized. Given commentary during 3Q earnings regarding the more severe baseline characteristics of the initial patients in cohort 4 and emphasis on HbF fold-change we outlined our expectations (LINK) that we would like to see >33% of the initial patients achieve 3-fold HbF induction in our base case and the data exceeded this benchmark. FULC also presented metrics beyond HbF fold induction, including total % HbF for each patient in cohort 4 regardless of time point. Based on our visual estimates at least 50% of the initial six patients in cohort 4 achieved 3-fold induction by day 84, with an additional two patients (patients 1 and 7) who we estimate were right around 3-fold induction. For the initial six patients at day 84, two patients reached 20% total HbF, which is an important benchmark associated with benefit on VOCs. We were also impressed by the strength of the full cohort data despite half the patients not yet reaching the full study period. Early data for the full cohort establishes an improvement over the 12mg cohort with a mean 9.9% HbF increase at week 6 vs. 5.6% for cohort 3b (12mg). In addition, 58% (7/12) of patients reached ≥20% HbF at their latest study point vs. 44% at week 12 for cohort 3b. We are encouraged by these initial data from cohort 4 and look forward to the full data expected in 1Q26. Based on the strength of these data we updated our POS for pociredir in SCD to 75% (from 65% previously) supporting our new PT of $24 (vs. $20 previously). Reiterate Outperform."

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