HC Wainwright Takes Bullish Stance On Two Cancer-Focused Pharma Companies

Analysts at H.C. Wainwright initiated coverage Thursday on two pharmaceutical companies developing cancer-related vaccines and treatments.

Interpace: Efficient Diagnosis, Expanding Reimbursement Coverage

Analyst Raghuram Selvaraju initiated coverage on Interpace Diagnostics Group, Inc. IDXG with a Buy rating and a 12-month price target of $3. 

Interpace — a molecular diagnostics company with a focus on gastrointestinal, endocrine and respiratory cancers — offers assays that can accurately distinguish between patients at low and high risks of developing cancer, reducing the need for surgery and lowering overall health care costs, Selvaraju said.

The company’s primary revenue drivers are PancraGEN, for pancreatic cysts and solid lesions, and ThyGenX and ThyraMIR for thyroid nodules, according to H.C. Wainwright. Both tests offer positive predictive value  well above industry standards, yielding higher diagnosis accuracy, the analyst said. 

Reimbursement coverage of Intercept’s cancer diagnostics assays has increased over the past two years, Selvaraju said. PancraGEN, ThyGenX and ThyraMIR are covered by Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Oxford and Blue Cross Blue Shield, the analyst said. 

At the time of publication, shares of Interpace were trading up nearly 3 percent at $1.04.

Genocea: Personalized Vaccines Could Become Industry Standard

Analyst Joseph Pantginis initiated coverage on Genocea Biosciences Inc GNCA with a Buy rating and a 12-month price target of $5. 

Genocea’s focus on personalized neo-antigen cancer vaccines could “add to the standard of care for leading tumor indications," Pantginis said in a Thursday note. 

The analyst’s bullish outlook is primarily driven by GEN-009, a personalized neo-antigen anti-cancer vaccine guided by the T-cell antigen discovery platform ATLAS, which gives it a “distinct advantage in vaccine development," the analyst said. 

Genocea is planning to file an investigative new drug application followed by a trial in mid-2018, according to H.C. Wainwright.

“The clinical study is expected to include a variety of tumor types including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, head and neck cancer and urothelial cancer.”

At the time of publication Thursday, Genocea shares were up 6.31 percent to $1.18. 

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