UPDATE: Bank Of America Reiterates On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Following EU Physicians Survey

In a report published Thursday, Bank of America analyst Steve Byrne reiterated an Underperform rating on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals BCRX, but lowered the price target from $9.00 to $8.00. In the report, Bank of America noted, “We recently conducted a survey of 20 EU physicians treating HAE which follows our US survey in April. EU physicians seem less willing to switch from their current standard of care (Berinert, IV-based 2x/week), whereas US physicians would more readily switch from Cinryze (also IV-based 2x/week). Roughly half the doctors were familiar with BCRX's multiple pills/ 3x/day kallikrein inhibitor ('4161) and Dyax' 1-2x/month antibody (‘2930), and generally expected patients to prefer the less frequent injection therapy. However, a one pill per day therapy would be very attractive in both regions. We lower our PO to $8 from $9, due to lower EU pricing (see below), and are cautious ahead of Dyax's proof of concept data in mid-2015. We see potential upside from phase 2b for ‘4161 by YE 2015 (see below) and data for next gen products in 3Q15 (<$1/share in our valuation).” BioCryst Pharmaceuticals closed on Wednesday at $10.58.