Leerink Remains Cautious on Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) Following Conference Call

Leerink Partners analyst Michael Schmidt weighed in on Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IONS) after the company held a conference call this morning to discuss GSK's decision not to initiate the planned "CARDIO-TTR" Phase III trial of IONS-TTR-Rx in patients with TTR amyloid cardiomyopathy (FAC).

Schmidt notes this decision was made based on safety findings in the ongoing NEURO-TTR Ph III study of IONS-TTR-Rx in patients with TTR amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP).

"On the conference call, IONS confirmed that cases of severe thrombocytopenia have been observed in NEURO-TTR, as well as the ongoing Ph III trial of volanesorsen (IONS-APOCIII-Rx) in patients with familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS)," he commented. "While the exact frequency of events and addl. details such as potential clinical manifestations (e.g. hemorrhages, deaths, etc.) were not disclosed on the call the question was raised whether these events are a potential compound-specific or a class effect. Regardless of the specific mechanism, we believe these observations clearly increase the risk around IONS platform, especially with respect to systemically administered antisense-oligonucleotides (ASOs). IONS' TTR program currently reflects 36% of our IONS valuation. We remain cautious on IONS."

The firm maintained a Market Perform rating on the stock.

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

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals closed at $35.26 yesterday.

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