UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Initiates Pharmacyclics at Buy on Outlook for Ibrutinib

Piper Jaffray initiated coverage on Pharmacyclics PCYC with an Overweight rating and an $83 price target. Piper Jaffray commented, "We believe ibrutinib, a first-in-class oral BTK inhibitor, is positioned to be a blockbuster for the treatment of hematological malignancies, with peak sales of $4bn+ in CLL alone, given its patient friendly profile. Despite the recent run-up in PCYC shares, we believe there is room for additional upside as consensus estimates do not factor in accelerated timelines for ibrutinib launch in CLL and appears to ignore expansion into multiple myeloma (MM) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We are therefore focused on data from two ongoing Phase II trials at the American Society of Hematology (ASH, December 8-11, 2012) meeting. We expect the preliminary data to confirm the drug's activity in MM and DLBCL and provide investors visibility on a near doubling of peak sales potential for ibrutinib." Pharmacyclics closed at $61.07 on Wednesday.