Jefferies Reiterates Buy Rating on Amylin Pharma (AMLN)

Jefferies & Co. is out with an analyst note this morning, where they reiterate their Buy rating on shares of Amylin Pharmaceuticals

; they have a $31.00 price target. Jefferies analysts cited a recent Phase 3 trial of Roche's taspoglutide, which shows a clinical profile that will likely be considered inferior to AMLN's Bydureon. They added, “The most controversial aspect of the taspoglutide profile has been GI side effects. The full data on nausea and vomiting were not disclosed in the abstracts, but there were two details of note: 1) The rate of GI side effects with taspoglutide was higher than AMLN's first-generation Byetta in a head-to-head study 2) The pooled rate of discontinuations due to GI side effects at the 20mg dose across the taspoglutide abstracts was 8.2%. For comparison, the rate of GI side effects with Bydureon was 43% lower than Byetta, and the pooled discontinuation rate due to nausea in the Bydureon DURATION 1-3 studies was 0.7% These suggest that Bydureon is likely to have a superior GI side effect profile to taspoglutide.” Jefferies closed by noting, “Catalyst For AMLN. There has been uncertainty among investors on whether Roche would emerge as the leader in the GLP-1 class with a similar clinical profile but a superior delivery system to Bydureon. Our thesis remains that the GLP-1 market will likely expand significantly and could support room for multiple competitors. The ADA abstracts give us increased confidence that investors will give AMLN more credit for a competitive profile following ADA.”