UPDATE: Wedbush Initiates Coverage on Relypsa on Potential Breakthrough Treatment for Hyperkalemia

In a report published Tuesday, Wedbush analyst Liana Moussatos initiated coverage on Relypsa RLYP with an Outperform rating and $34.00 price target. In the report, Wedbush noted, “Relypsa is an emerging pharmaceutical company developing non-absorbed polymer drug candidates to treat renal, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Patiromer is the lead drug candidate and is a non-absorbed, optimized potassium-binding polymer to normalize hyperkalemia. Initial targeted patients include those with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and heart failure (HF) for which the standard-of-care, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASi), can also cause life-threatening hyperkalemia. The company expects to file an NDA for patiromer in Q3:14 and we estimate U.S. launch in Q4:15.” Relypsa closed on Monday at $19.99.