Epizyme (EPZM) Revised Celgene Agreement 'Net Positive', Mizuho Securities Says

Mizuho Securities analyst Peter Lawson said Epizyme's (NASDAQ: EPZM) amended agreement with Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) is hard to compare to the prior one, but overall they view it as a positive.

Lawson cited: 1) CELG's interest continues - the collaboration was extended for three years; 2) a natural evolution — the agreement narrows the focus of the broad, prior agreement; and 3) increases EPZM’s development control, bumps up milestone payments and EZPM holds onto US rights for one of the targets — CELG now has the option to license global rights to two pre-clinical HMT targets and ex-US rights to a third.

In addition, CELG's right of first negotiation was dropped, potentially making EPZM a more attractive acquisition target. The DOT1-L (EPZ-5676) agreement is largely unchanged.

The firm maintained an Outperform rating and price target of $29.00

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

Shares of Epizyme closed at $22.78 yesterday.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Citadel unwinds 80% of Aschenbrenner’s portfolio risk - report
• ICICI Securities Resumes Dalmia Bharat Ltd (DALBHARA:IN) at Add (2)
• Denarius Metals acquires 15% stake in Copper Giant, Trafigura invests