UPDATE: Morgan Stanley Reiterates Equal-Weight Rating, Removes PT on Pharmacyclics on ASCO Data

In a report published Monday, Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Harrison reiterated an Equal-Weight rating on Pharmacyclics PCYC, but removed the $100.00 price target. In the report, Morgan Stanley noted, “Two key Imbruvica datasets were presented. The analyst event (6/2) and 3yr follow-up (6/3) are still to come. We analyze the data and offer thoughts from our mgt. mtg. So far, we see ASCO as in line with expectations: On RESONATE, ORR concerns appear unfounded. Investigator ORR (68% v 71%) and IRC ORR (43% v 58%) were similar to PhI/II. While PFS appears worse (<70% at 12mo vs 75% in PhI/II), sig. censoring after 9mo (9.4mo median follow-up) and use of IRC vs investigator reported data skewed the comp. In the ofa combo, mgt. comments suggest the pts with CRs (2/66) may have met MRD-neg criteria, though the CR rate (3% v 36%) was sig. below ABT-199. On the launch, mgt. believes NRxs (since Feb) represent true new pts. Mgt. hopes to have specialty pharmacy data by 2Q, which will offer more details on d/c, duration and prior therapy. Mgt. comments suggest TRxs may be impacted by pts waiting to refill (i.e., some at wk 5, but others not until wk 13), though the data is incomplete.” Pharmacyclics closed on Friday at $88.83.