UBS maintained a Buy rating on Celyad SA (NASDAQ: CYAD), and cut the price target to $79.00 (from $82.00), following the company's 1H15 The key focus for analyst Andrew Peters is on timelines and the path forward for both the CHART program in heart failure as well as the NKG2D-based CAR-T therapy currently in phase-1 trials. Management confirmed that CHART-1 continues on-track, with top-line data expected by 1H16.

Peters commented, "While Celyad reported 1H15 financial results that beat our OpEx expectations, the key focus for us is on timelines and the path forward for both the CHART program in heart failure as well as the NKG2D-based CAR-T therapy currently in phase-1 trials. With data from both expected by 1H16, we continue to view Celyad as an underappreciated pipeline story, with both programs likely to drive meaningful upside if successful. Notably, management confirmed that CHART-1 continues on-track, with top-line data expected by 1H16. Further, with a second AML patient now enrolled and having received cells, and the first patient still on-study, the ongoing phase-1 trial is also ontrack (although the company is now adding more trial sites to help accelerate enrollment into additional cohorts). The financial update included lower-than-expected OpEx, although we expect this to begin to accelerate as the CAR-T program (and potentially CHART-2) begins to ramp-up. Following 1H results, we are reiterating our Buy rating on CYAD and view it as an underappreciated pipeline story with two compelling programs that will have key read-outs over the next 12mos."

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Shares of Celyad SA closed at $51.34 yesterday.