Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) PT Cut to $39 at Piper Jaffray; 'Overweight' Maintained

Piper Jaffray analyst Charles Duncan cut his price target on Acadia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACAD) to $39.00 (from $46.00) after the company delayed its NDA for Nuplazid and the CEO resigned, resulting in a 25% sell-off in the stock after-hours. The firm is maintaining an Overweight rating.

Duncan commented, "ACADIA announced the retirement of CEO Uli Hacksell, with CFO and CBO Steve Davis being named interim CEOs. The company also disclosed deficiencies in the commercial-scale manufacturing capabilities for Nuplazid and delayed the NDA timing to 2H15. Key, in our view, is the company's insistance that the delays are not a function of the clinical package, chemistry, or formulation. That said, with projected delays to launch, we have reduced our pre-peak penetration and increased our discount rates on the U.S. PDP program to 25% (from 20%) on greater uncertainty around execution, resulting in our new $39 price target (from $46, Exhibit 1 vs. 2). We still see Nuplazid as uniquely positioned to address a large, multi-$bn market opportunity, projecting a current risk adjusted NPV of $4.5B, or $39 per share. Therefore, we would be buyers for risk-tolerant, longer term portfolios."

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

Shares of Acadia Pharmaceuticals closed at $44.76 yesterday.

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