Brean Downgrades Mirati Therapeutics To Hold

In a report published Monday, Brean Capital analyst Jonathan Aschoff downgraded the rating on Mirati Therapeutics, Inc MRTX from Buy to Hold. Mirati's ASCO presentation described the first look of the 1050 mg dose expansion cohort, while mentioning that 13 more patients were added to take the total to 25; however 14 of them discontinued therapy. In the report Brean Capital noted, "The most noteworthy efficacy results in the expansion cohort occurred in 3 patients, all of whom had substantial evidence of responding to therapy at the first assessment of antitumor activity along with improvements in clinical symptoms, but none of whom met response criteria per RECIST." "We note the strong recent pre-ASCO stock price surge and the current results lacking in RECIST criteria responses do not incline us to raise our target price to maintain a Buy rating," analyst Jonathan Aschoff said.