UPDATE: JMP Securities Downgrades Ariad Pharmaceuticals Following Announcement of Partial Hold on Iclusig Trials

In a report published Thursday, JMP Securities analyst Michael G. King Jr. downgraded the rating on Ariad Pharmaceuticals ARIA from Market Outperform to Market Perform, and removed the $30.00 price target. In the report, JMP Securities noted, “This morning, Ariad announced that the FDA had placed a partial clinical hold on patient enrollment in all trials of Iclusig, based on updated safety information from the PACE trial. Based on a median follow-up of 24 months, an increase in arterial thromboembolic events was seen (11.8%, vs. 8.0% after 11 months of follow-up as described on the Iclusig package insert). In addition, the incidence of serious venous occlusion increased to 2.9% vs. 2.2% on the product label. Overall, the incidence rate of arterial thrombotic events, adjusted for exposure time, was unchanged at 10 events per 100 patient years. The incidence of these events appears to be tied to age, time on therapy, and pre-existing cardiovascular disease. In response, the company is not only pausing enrollment in all Iclusig studies, but is also implementing a dose-reduction strategy (to 30mg and 15mg) in the ongoing, randomized EPIC trial, as well as excluding patients with a prior history of arterial thrombosis that has resulted in heart attack or stroke.” Ariad Pharmaceuticals closed on Wednesday at $5.83.