UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Upgrading Acorda Therapeutics

Piper Jaffray is upgrading shares of Acorda Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ACOR) to Neutral from Underweight, and it has a $30 price target on shares.

In a note to investors, Piper Jaffray writes, "With the European Medicine Agency's (EMEA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) reversing itself, now recommending conditional marketing authorization for Fampyra (the ex-U.S. trade name for Ampyra), we are upgrading Acorda to a Neutral from Underweight. The reversal was a surprise to us given that the CHMP initially cited a "small effect on walking speed" as a basis for its rejection. We are expecting approval in 3Q11, and with the inclusion of royalties from partner Biogen Idec, we are raising our price target to $30 from $21. That said, we remain cautious regarding the U.S. sales trajectory for Ampyra, and would expect similar dynamics in the EU."

Shares of ACOR gained $3.67 on Friday to close at $30.38, a gain of almost 14%.