United Therapeutic Shares Rocketing Higher Following FDA Approval of Orenitram, JP Morgan Upgrade

Shares of United Therapeutic Corporation UTHR are up more than 23 percent just after Monday morning's opening bell, breaking to a new high over $108. United Therapeutic announced on Friday that the United States Food and Drug Administration approved Orenitram (treprostinil) Extended-Release Tablets for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in WHO Group I patients to improve exercise capacity. United Therapeutics' President and Chief Operating Officer commented that this approval supports the company's mission to provide a "wider choice of PAH therapies for physicians and patients." Monday morning JP Morgan analyst Geoffrey Meacham upgraded the stock form Underweight to Neutral and raised the price target from $62.00 to $90.00. Despite the optimism in share price, Meacham noted that approval isn't enough to warrant a move to Overweight. The analyst cited the Sandoz litigation on Remodulin, a potential competition in PAH from Actelion's selexipag. In addition, JP Morgan commented that the Orenitram label appears "very restrictive." United Therapeutic closed at a record high on December 2, at $94.95. Shares closed at $87.84 on Friday. Shares of United Therapeutic are currently up 23.06% at $108.10.