Needham & Company Downgrades Pharmacyclics (PCYC) to Hold; Taking Some Off The Table

Needham & Company downgraded Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ: PCYC) from Buy to Hold.

Analyst, Alan Carr, said, "PCYC provided a corporate update yesterday, announcing additional details around ibrutinib Phase 3 development efforts. The company recently initiated the Phase 3 RESONATE trial in r/r CLL, triggering a $50M milestone payment from collaborator J&J (NYSE: JNJ. Plans for at least 3 other Phase 3 trials expected to begin over the next 8 months were also announced, with another $50M milestone payment expected by YE12. The stock has performed well since we assumed coverage in Nov 2011 (+380%), given strong Phase 2 ibrutinib data in B-cell cancers, announcement of a quality collaboration deal with J&J, and rapid progression into a broad ibrutinib Phase 3 program. Although in our opinion ibrutinib likely has multi-billion sales potential, we believe current valuation (~$3.5B EV) adequately reflects the impressive ibrutinib profile in conjunction with risks and timing to estimated launch in 2015."

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

Shares of Pharmacyclics closed at $53.44 yesterday.

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