Relypsa Comprehensive News Update

On Thursday morning, Relypsa Inc

activist OrbiMed cut their stake from 19% to 17.75% which has followed speculation that the company was a takeover target by AstraZeneca plc

. Daily Mail reported that AstraZeneca was reportedly interested in a deal for $46/share of Relypsa stock. Coupled with a takeover rumor, Wedbush analyst Dr. Lianna Moussatos reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock raising her price target from $75 to $86 per share. In her report, she said about a third of Relypsa's salesforce and all of the nephrology salesforce of Sanofi SA (ADR)

began contacting and educating doctors about Veltassa. "Initial feedback suggests to us that the DDI (drug-drug interaction) box warning is of little concern and is unlikely to materially curb Veltassa prescribing," analyst Liana Moussatos said. Shares of Relypsa are now trading up 2.22% on the day at $28.54/Share on the takeover speculation and Wedbush bullish commentary, despite a reduced stake from OrbiMed.