UPDATE: Leerink Partners Initiates Coverage on Five Prime Therapeutics with Outperform Rating, $35 PT on Multiple Value Drivers

In a report published Friday, Leerink Partners analyst Michael Schmidt initiated coverage on

with an Outperform rating and $35.00 price target. In the report, Leerink Partners noted, “We are initiating coverage of FPRX with an Outperform (OP) rating and $35 PT. FPRX is a specialist in the discovery of new antibody targets, focused on inflammation & immuno-oncology (I/O). FPRX has applied its platform to generate a proprietary product pipeline and to enter into major strategic collaborations (e.g., BMY, GSK, UCB) that provide the company with funding. We believe FPRX's key value drivers are its 3 lead product candidates, proprietary FPA008 and FPA144, as well as partnered FP-1039 (GSK), addressing large market opportunities in autoimmune diseases and oncology. Clinical catalysts in late 2015 and 2016 that could serve as early clinical validation for those agents, in our view. In addition, we believe advances by FPRX in development of new immune-checkpoint inhibitors and potential future partnerships could provide additional upside to the current valuation.” Five Prime Therapeutics closed on Thursday at $24.89.