Could Gemphire Be A Diamond In The Rough?

Shares of Gemphire Therapeutics Inc

surged more than thirteen percent on Tuesday after RBC Capital Markets initiated the coverage with an Outperform rating. Analyst, Adnan Butt, kept a price target of $25. That meant the stock offers more than 100 percent potential rewards from the current levels. The brokerage expects data from the ongoing Phase 2b trials next year. The advantage is that the company has differentiated itself for lowering cholesterol, as well as, triglyceride levels. In the United States alone, 16 million people were affected by cardiovascular diseases and the trial is meant to address it. The analyst, Adman Butt, pointed out that the second stage trial demonstrated a reduction of 30 percent in LDL-C with mono therapy. Aside from this, there are no side effects and that the tolerability and safety are clean with statin combinations. In a research note to clients, RBC said, "The FDA has approved several drugs for the treatment of HoFH, ASCVD/HeFH, and SHTG, i.e., GEMP has well validated paths to follow. Pursuit of indications such as ASCVD would require an outcomes study. However, GEMP could also pursue indications, such as SHTG, where an outcomes study may not be required." The brokerage expects gemcabene to be protected until the year 2032 based on how it is created since the data has exclusivity of 5 – 7.5 years in the America and outside. Butt thinks that his "base case could be conservative" citing the assumption of primary protection through exclusivity in data. Based on additional indications, there is potential to boost his forecasts. Following the news, the stock surged $1.31, or 13.29 percent, to $11.18 at time of writing this.