UPDATE: BMO Capital Markets Initiates Intercept Pharmaceuticals at Outperform on Outlook

BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Intercept Pharmaceuticals

with an Outperform rating and a $31 price target. BMO Capital Markets said, "Our positive outlook is supported by a proprietary platform of bile acid analogs, a deep pipeline of clinical candidates, and a lead opportunity in Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC), a rare orphan disease supporting a $500 million–$1 billion opportunity. With phase 3 data for lead bile acid analog OCA (INT-747) expected by mid-2013, phase 2 data in PBC is compelling, in our opinion, and should support a clear benefit in patients failing current standard bile acid therapy with ursodiol (URSO)." Intercept Pharmaceuticals closed at $18.75 on Friday.