Rodman & Renshaw Raises PT on ARIAD Pharma to $18

Rodman & Renshaw has published a research report on ARIAD Pharmaceuticals

and has raised the price target from $15 to $18. In the report, Rodman & Renshaw writes, "While ARIA shares are up ~130% year-to-date and the market capitalization now is approaching $1.9bil, we believe the economic potential of ponatinib is still coming into focus for investors. Further data on ponatinib's efficacy (we expect another read out on the PACE trial in the 1H 2012 prior to the company submitting its NDA), duration of use, as well as KOL enthusiasm to moving ponatinib into the front-line setting will all become clear in 2012. Additionally, we believe the approval of ridaforolimus and '113 development updates will provide additional catalysts. Based on our DCF analysis, we arrive at a “base-case” valuation of $17.87 per share for year-end 2012. From this analysis, we establish a new price target of $18 for year-end 2012. Separately, we also modeled a more bullish case (DCF valuation: $19.57, see Table 1) with an increased duration of therapy and improved front-line market share." Rodman & Renshaw maintains its Market Outperform rating on ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, which closed Friday at $11.74.