UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Assumes Coverage on ISIS Pharmaceuticals as Company's Antisense Platform Continues to Advance

In a report published Wednesday, Piper Jaffray analyst Joshua E. Schimmer assumed coverage on ISIS Pharmaceuticals ISIS, upgraded the rating from Underweight to Neutral, and raised the price target from $25.00 to $38.00. In the report, Piper Jaffray noted, “We are assuming coverage of ISIS and shifting to a Neutral view of shares (from Underweight) as the company's antisense platform continues to advance. ISIS's pipeline is overwhelming and presents diverse risks, stages of development and economics. As such, ascribing value to this type of heterogeneous mix of assets is challenging. The programs that stand out to us as most valuable are: ISIS-APOCIIIrx, ISIS-TTRrx, ISISSMNrx, ISIS-DMPKrx, and ISIS-ANGPTL3rx (of these, the latter 2 are preclinical programs and only the 1st and last are wholly owned). ISIS and its partners will have a number of data readouts in the coming months and years which will bring the long-term cash flow opportunities of the company into better (but still imperfect) focus.” ISIS Pharmaceuticals closed on Tuesday at $38.14.