UPDATE: Ladenburg Thalmann Maintains Buy Rating, Raises PT for Optimer Pharmaceuticals

In a company update published earlier today, Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services maintained its Buy rating for Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

and raised its price target from $15.00 to $17.00. Ladenburg Thalmann said in its report “We believe Dificid [trade name for the antibiotic Fidaxomicin] commercial launch is going as we expected and is on track to reaching the sales milestones set with Cubists [Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc.]. In addition, in spite its high price, the medical need in the refractory/recurrence patient population appears to be large enough to maintain revenue growth before Dificid is positioned as a potential first line therapy in high risk populations. We believe success in high risk patient populations is necessary for the long term success of the drug (we believe it is too early to evaluate whether or not this is likely to be the case).” Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. closed yesterday at $14.80.