UPDATE: Oppenheimer Lowers PT on InterMune to $38

Oppenheimer has published a research report on InterMune (NASDAQ: ITMN) and has lowered the price target from $52 to $38 after reviewing the EU pricing and reimbursement landscape on the company.

In the report, Oppenheimer writes, "As ITMN has recently been weak on a modest German assessment of Esbriet, we reviewed EU pricing/reimbursement processes and spoke with consultants. Based on our work, we expect Germany/EU Esbriet price reductions. However, we believe there are expectations for catastrophic price reductions, which we see as very unlikely. We now model a 25% EU-wide price discount, but believe ITMN currently reflects an ~80% EU discount (assuming 20% probability of Esbriet's US success). Although we don't expect significant clarity on Esbriet's EU pricing/reimbursement ahead of a March G-BA reimbursement decision, we believe Esbriet's ultimate EU pricing will be substantially better than currently feared, leading ITMN higher over '12. Lowering PT to $38, from $52, on estimate revisions."

Oppenheimer maintains its Outperform rating on InterMune, which is currently trading up $0.33 from yesterday's $12.52 closing price.