UPDATE: Citigroup Reiterates Buy Rating, Lowers PT on Vical on Near-Term Challenges

In a report published Wednesday, Citigroup analyst Jonathan Eckard reiterated a Buy rating on

, but lowered the price target from $6.00 to $3.00. In the report, Citigroup noted, “We remain long-term buyers of VICL but are lowering our target price to $3 (-$3), representing an almost doubling of the current share price. While the failure of the Ph3 melanoma trial is a clear disappointment, we have consistently seen value in VICL's remaining pipeline. We note a remaining $95M in milestones from the ASP0113 (TransVax) program with Astellas, the large market and industry focus on the preventative CMV market for women of child-bearing age, potential market for VICL's genital herpes vaccine, and the scarcity value for the company's potent and unencumbered vaccine adjuvant Vaxfectin.” Vical closed on Tuesday at $1.53.