Chardan Capital Markets Starts Nightstar Therapeutics (NITE) at Buy

Chardan Capital Markets initiates coverage on Nightstar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NITE) with a Buy rating and a price target of $40.00.

Analyst Gbola Amusa commented, "We initiate coverage of Nightstar Therapeutics (NITE) with a Buy rating (PT$40), on the market opportunity likely addressed by NSR-REP1 in choroideremia (CHM). Choroideremia is a rare, inherited degenerative disease of the retina that typically has onsets in childhood or early adolescence. Patients then progress to reach legal or complete blindness in their 40s or 50s. There are currently no FDA-approved disease-modifying therapies for CHM. Nightstar's lead asset, AAV-based gene therapy, NSR-REP1, is due to enter the 140-patient pivotal phase III STAR trial in 1H18 for the treatment of CHM. With the Lancet-published phase I/II data for NSR-REP1 in CHM, and subsequent updates from the multi-center program, Nightstar has been able to show that all NSR-REP1-treated patients who received the therapeutic dose were able to maintain vision to 5 years after treatment. In addition, 21.1% (4 of 19) patients with moderate-to-severe visual acuity (VA) losses have seen ≥15-letter gains in visual acuity. This hyper-response rate is comparable to that seen for blockbuster ophthalmology products like Eylea and Lucentis. Available studies suggest that deterioration of VA in CHM occurs steadily over time, indicating that NSR-REP1 patient responses are not only biologically meaningful but also likely drug related. On these positives, and after conducting detailed research on NSR-REP1, we model $556 million in 75% risk-adjusted 2030E NSR-REP1 sales, which drives our $40 price target, and makes NITE a preferred name in ophthalmology gene therapy."

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

Shares of Nightstar Therapeutics closed at $13.12 yesterday.

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