Deutsche Bank analyst David Hoang downgraded Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRPT) from Hold to Sell with a price target of $9.00 (from $25.00).

The analyst comments: "SRPT shares traded down sharply on Friday (-37% intra-day) after a cascade of negative news that culminated with media reports (Reuters: here that the FDA is requesting SRPT voluntarily stop all shipments of its gene therapy, Elevidys. Earlier in the day, the company disclosed a patient death due to liver failure in a limb-girdle study, marking the third death to date for patients dosed with therapies utilizing its AAV gene therapy vector. Management deemed the death a non-material event and decided not to disclose this news on a call about restructuring held two days earlier, further undermining credibility, in our view (see our note here While the latest patient death was not due to Elevidys and occurred in the context of an ongoing Phase 1 trial for a different gene therapy asset (LGMD2D), we believe this is purely semantics, given the safety concerns stem from the same AAVrh74 vector used for both DMD (Elevidys) and LGMD2D. Should Elevidys remain on the market with a black box warning, we anticipate this series of events and lack of transparency will have seriously damaged patient demand, taking perhaps years to rebuild trust of the DMD community. As it stands, we believe the FDA has the ammo it needs to pull Elevidys off the market for all patients (both ambulatory and non-ambulatory) in the near-term."

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

Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics closed at $14.08 yesterday.