Raymond James sees strong demand for APOL1-mediated FSGS therapies

Investing.com -- Raymond James maintained its Strong Buy rating on NASDAQ:MAZE and Market Perform rating on NASDAQ:VRTX after reviewing survey data from Spherix Global Insights on the focal segmental glomerulosclerosis market and APOL1-mediated kidney disease. The survey of 110 nephrologists was conducted in August 2026.

FSGS is a severe proteinuric kidney disease with high unmet need. Mutation in APOL1 contributes to approximately 75% of Black FSGS patients, and AMKD does not have an approved targeted therapeutic. MAZE and VRTX are both developing APOL1 inhibitors to treat this condition, with inaxaplin for VRTX and MZE829 for MAZE.

The survey data showed AMKD is rated as the second-highest unmet need among chronic kidney diseases. AMKD and FSGS ranked an average 8.7 and 8.4 out of 10, respectively, for highest unmet need for new treatment options.

Genetic testing for APOL1 among FSGS patients continues to increase. Doctors estimated that 65% of patients under care have been tested, compared to 57% in last year's survey. The percent of patients who test positive for APOL1 has remained steady in the low-20s, matching data from real-world cohorts of FSGS patients.

Among a list of FSGS therapies in development, VRTX's inaxaplin ranks as the most desired for approval. MAZE's MZE829, which is earlier in development than inaxaplin, was not included in this survey.

When asked about endpoints tracked to determine response to therapy, 90% of doctors looked at reduction in proteinuria and 82% looked at eGFR stabilization. Doctors responded that they feel confident a treatment is working if proteinuria reaches 0.7 g/g, which corresponds with a long-term survival benefit.

MAZE plans to report updated results from its Phase 2 HORIZON study of MZE829 in late 2026 or early 2027. The data is expected to include approximately 10-15 patients per cohort across FSGS, non-diabetic, and diabetic AMKD.

VRTX expects to present data from the interim analysis cohort of the P2/3 AMPLIFIED study of inaxaplin in early 2027.

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