UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Initiates Idera Pharmaceuticals at Overweight on Encouraging Data

Piper Jaffray initiated overage on Idera Pharmaceuticals

with an Overweight rating and a $2 price target. Piper Jaffray commented, "Idera is developing IMO-3100, a TLR 7 and 9 antagonist, for the treatment of lupus. The company recently reported top-line data from a 4-week Phase IIa study of IMO-3100 in moderate-to-severe psoriasis showing a statistically significant improvement in the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) score over placebo. Not only do these results demonstrate proof-ofconcept for IMO-3100 in psoriasis, but more broadly Idera's approach of modulating TLRs to treat autoimmune disorders. The company next intends to conduct a larger, 12-week Phase IIb trial in early 2013. IMO-3100 offers a unique mechanism of action in a disease that needs novel therapies and could represent a blockbuster opportunity." Idera Pharmaceuticals closed at $0.80 on Wednesday.