Cowen Upgrades Bioverativ Shares To Outperform As TNT009 Heats Up

Cowen analyst Eric Schmidt thinks the experimental drug TNT009 could change the way investors think about Bioverativ Inc BIVV.

Schmidt upgraded the company from Market Perform to Outperform and raised its price target from $47 to $80.

Bioverative spun off from Biogen Inc BIIB early this year and is focused on treatments for blood diseases.

“We think TNT009 is capable of changing the narrative on [Bioveratic] shares from defensive posturing to offensive opportunity,” said Schmidt in a note.

TNT009 Could Blow Up Huge

TNT009 was obtained when Bioverativ bought True North. The drug treats Cold Agglutinin Disease, an autoimmune hemolytic anemia thought to affect about 5,000, mostly older, people in the U.S.

There are currently no approved treatments for the disease, leaving the market wide open.

Results from the drug’s Phase I study showed all patients without active malignancy exhibiting “complete, immediate and sustained responses.”

The drug was given a breakthrough therapy designation from FDA. The next study is expected to begin later this year.

Schmidt expects the drug to be approved in both the U.S. and the European Union by 2021. About 16 in every 1 million people have the disease, and 75 percent need treatment, leading the analyst to forecast TNT009’s pricing at $350,000 per year and over $1.5 billion in sales.

Bioverativ’s patent on the drug through 2034 could drive many years of double-digit EPS growth.

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