Biotech Updates: Analysts Offer Commentary on Opko Health Inc. (OPK) and Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (INO)

By Sarah Crotty

Analysts weighed in on biotech companies Opko Health Inc.OPK and Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc INO in light of new reports and pipeline updates from the companies. Let's take a closer look into the company's recent developments:

Opko Health Inc.

Analyst Brandon Couillard at Jefferies weighed in on Opko Health with a revised model for the company and an estimate change. Opko is a multinational diversified pharmaceutical company focused on emerging medical markets. The analyst revised his model following the 4Q15 earnings report from OPK and reiterated his Hold rating.

Couillard has high expectation for Rayaldee in the near term, a drug utilized to prevent and treat secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in patients with stage 3 and 4 chronic kidney disease (CKD) and vitamin D insufficiency. The analyst expects a positive outcome for the drug in FDA approvals and "[he] forecast[s] $18M and $72M of Rayaldee-related revenues in 2016 & 2017, respectively."

The analyst stated, "Beyond that, we remain cautious on OPK's Diagnostics products, given limited visibility around the timing & magnitude of 4Kscore reimbursement and recent delays in the launch timeline for its Claros point-of-care platform." The 4Kscore is a blood test used to identify patient's risk for aggressive forms of prostate cancer. Opko is seeking ways to obtain reimbursement from payers in the U.S. and abroad for this test. The Claros point-of-care platform is a device utilized to conduct diagnostic tests in about 10 minutes. These exciting innovations indicate a strong potential for future success for Opko.

Despite the promising pipeline developments, Couillard lowered his 2016 Cons. EPS forecasts from $0.07 to $0.02 and his revenue expectation from $1,224.2 million to 1,173.8 million. This decrease is due to diminished expectation from "a slightly lower revenue outlook for the [Bio-Reference Laboratories, Inc.] business and a higher D&A assumption."

According to TipRanks, Couillard has a 70% success rate on recommending stocks and a 9.8% average return per recommendation. Brandon Couillard is rated #254 out of 3,795 analysts on TipRanks.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc

Inovio Pharmaceuticals released its 4Q15 earnings and pipeline updates with clinical timeline changes and revenue "close enough to consensus." Analyst Jonathon Aschoff at Brean Capital weighed in on the company's recent performance with a Buy rating and a slightly reduced target price to $18 from $20.

In 2015, Inovio announced a partnership with MedImmune "for its INO-3112 HPV cancer vaccine and a preclinical collaboration to advance other cancer vaccine therapeutics." According to Aschoff, "In 2016, the companies plan to initiate a combination trial with a MedImmune immuno-oncology molecule and an Inovio cancer vaccine." The deal with MedImmune includes a royalty agreement which may be highly lucrative for Inovio.

Furthermore, In 4Q15 the company continued developments in its Phase 3 trial in 350-400 patients for VGX-3100, a drug used to treat HPV-related pre-cancerous dysplasia. Aschoff stated, "Inovio hopes that the FDA will agree to the intended Phase 3 design utilizing reduction rather than resolution of disease, as it is the shorter of two developmental timelines." This decision will have a strong influence on the cost and timeline of the drug and on Opko in the near-term.

According to TipRanks, Jonathon Aschoff has a 34% success rate recommending stocks and has an average loss of 12.4% per rating. As of this writing, 3 analysts have weighed in on Inovio and all are bullish. The average 12-month price target between these 3 analysts is $20.67, marking a 209.43% upside from where shares last closed.