Aegis Capital Reiterates Buy Rating on Galectin Therapeutics After FDA Approval

Aegis Capital published a report Tuesday on Galectin Therapeutics

that reiterated its Buy rating and $7.00 price target after the receipt of FDA approval. In the report, Aegis Capital wrote, "This morning, Galectin announced that the FDA has approved its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for permission to begin first-in-man testing of its lead drug candidate GR-MD-02. A Phase 1 study of the drug is now slated to start patient dosing by May 2013 and is expected to yield data later in the year. Patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) who exhibit advanced fibrotic disease are slated to be enrolled at up to seven centers in the U.S. The firm's Phase 2 study in NASH, a highly unmet medical need with no currently-approved effective therapy, could begin before the end of 2013 and yield data in early 2015, potentially paving the way for a transformative partnership or potentially an acquisition of the company." Galectin Therapeutics closed Monday at $3.32 and is currently up 5.42 percent at the time of this writing.