Bank of America is Impressed by Takeaways from Vertex Pharmaceuticals Conference Call

In a report published Tuesday, Bank of America analyst Ying Huang reiterated a Neutral rating and $119.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals VRTX. In the report, Bank of America noted, “We held a conference call yesterday with the director of a large cystic fibrosis center following the NACFC conference. His center treats roughly 600 pediatric and adult patients. On TRAFFIC/TRANSPORT results, the expert was impressed by the reduction seen in pulmonary exacerbations (39% with 400mg BID dose) but was unimpressed by the magnitude of FEV1 improvement (2.6%-4.0% absolute improvement). He believes the community is looking for greater improvement, which may have prompted VRTX to evaluate VX661 and other correctors as well. On dyspnea and elevated liver enzymes seen in the trials, he is not concerned and believes that the use of bronchodilators and more frequent monitoring of liver function will resolve these issues and will not limit use, respectively.” Vertex Pharmaceuticals closed on Monday at $105.91.