UPDATE: Stifel Initiates Coverage on Relypsa with Buy Rating, $25 PT on Palatable Risk and Large Market Opportunity

In a report published Tuesday, Stifel analyst Stephen Willey initiated coverage on

with a Buy rating and $25.00 price target. In the report, Stifel noted, “We are initiating coverage on shares of Relypsa, Inc. (RLYP) with a Buy rating and a 12-month target price of $25. We believe Relypsa's lead product candidate patiromer, an orally-administered, non-absorbable, potassium-binding polymer, has the potential to meaningfully improve the long-term outcomes of those patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and heart failure (HF) by greatly reducing the risk of hyperkalemia (HK) associated with the administration of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone inhibiting (RAASi) therapies. We believe the recent completion of a comprehensive and highly successful clinical development program and what appears to be a largely de-risked regulatory path going forward meaningfully mitigates many of the traditional risk metrics associated with a small-cap biotech story – allowing investors to focus on the commercial opportunity for a first-in-class product in what is currently a nascent multi-billion U.S. market opportunity for which an extremely high level of pre-existing physician awareness already exists.” Relypsa closed on Monday at $19.99.