Liquidia Well-Positioned With PRINT, Jefferies Says

Liquidia Technologies Inc. LQDA has developed a PRINT technology, which serves as a particle engineering platform to enable production of uniform drug particles. This platform allows the company to control both the physical and chemical natures of particles.

According to Jefferies, Liquidia is able to build better pharmaceuticals with PRINT.

The Analyst

Jefferies analyst Matthew J. Andrews initiated coverage on Liquidia Technologies with a Buy rating and a $22 price target.

The Thesis

Andrews highlighted the lead program, which develops a version of treprostinil for pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH. Because the Food and Drug Administration has approved treprostinil four prior times, regulatory risk should be lowered.

“Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a progressive and incurable disease,” Andrews said in a note. Due to its progressivity, this program is dosed with ingredients that show no short-term safety concerns. The note reports a modeled $308 million in sales by 2026, reflecting a 60-percent probability.

“The primary endpoint for the Ph. III INSPIRE study is safety at two weeks with 6-Minute Walk Distance as a key efficacy measure. FDA is comfortable with treprostinil safety as the primary endpoint as it has approved the drug four times (Remodulin IV/subcu, Tyvaso, and Orenitram), thus it knows treprostinil's risk/benefit profile very well,” Andrews said.

Overall, Andrews considers PRINT technology to be the secret catalyst for the company, as it helps fulfill the company’s goals to improve safety and efficacy and has the ability to establish a U.S. sales force within this industry.

Price Action

Liquidia shares were up 3 percent at $15.35 Monday afternoon.

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