UPDATE: BMO Capital Markets Reiterates Outperform Rating, Lowers PT on Halozyme Therapeutics

In a report published Friday, BMO Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating on Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ: HALO), but lowered its price target from $12.00 to $9.00BMO Capital Markets noted, “Halozyme shares have been under pressure over the past two days after a program update from partner Roche on the Herceptin SubQ filing in Europe. In particular, concerns have been raised regarding the implications of a delay of at least one quarter in CHMP review, from 1Q13 to 2Q13+, and reference to discussion of ongoing questions specific to the Herceptin SubQ filing. Roche has noted that questions are unique to Herceptin SubQ and have not been raised for MabThera SubQ, and acknowledged specific issues previously raised in published data, in particular an imbalance in certain serious adverse events. In framing the implications of a delay in Herceptin SubQ filing Roche de-emphasized the importance of the product in its longrange plans and suggested that more effective follow-on drugs could make Herception obsolete over the longer term.”Halozyme Therapeutics closed on Thursday at $6.79.