Oppenheimer Reports on Optimer Pharmaceuticals (OPTR)

Oppenheimer released a report on Optimer Pharmaceuticals

earlier today. In the report, Oppenheimer was bullish on the pharmaceutical company. Oppenheimer writes, “OPTR reported 1Q11 EPS of $1.04, above our ($0.36) EPS estimate, driven by a one-time upfront licensing payment from Astellas of $69.2M. Of note, OPTR's reported operating expenses of $24.5M were ahead of our $15.9M estimate. Importantly, we continue to anticipate approval of DIFICID for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (

) by the May 30th PDUFA. We are revising our 2010-2013 EPS estimates. We maintain our Outperform rating on OPTR based on our belief that 1) OPTR's attractive ex-US partnership with Astellas Pharma (ALPMY, $37.30, Not Rated) will boost ex-US fidaxomicin sales and 2) a positive advisory panel for fidaxomicin on April 5th will likely lead to an approval of the drug on the May 30th PDUFA date, with launch of fidaxomicin coming in 3Q11.” Oppenheimer has an Outperform rating on the stock, and a price target of $17.00. Optimer Pharmaceuticals closed yesterday at $11.98, down $0.60.