UPDATE: Rodman & Renshaw Raises PT to $75 on Pharmacyclics on SPARK Phase III Trial

Rodman & Renshaw reiterated its Outperform rating on Pharmacyclics

and increased its price target to $75 a share. Rodman & Renshaw commented, "Pharmacyclics announced this morning that its Phase II trial, SPARK, evaluating ibrutinib in Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) had enrolled its fifth patient triggering a $50MM milestone payment from Janssen. … Today's announcement is particularly important because, as per the terms of the partnership agreement between PCYC and JNJ, the five development milestones are triggered only in trials run for “purposes of seeking Regulatory approval in the [US] or [Europe]”. We interpret this to mean that the SPARK trial is a registration-directed trial in MCL." Pharmacyclics closed at $62.89 on Friday.