How Roth's Elemer Piros Is Playing Spark Therapeutics Ahead Of Lock-Up Expiration

In a report issued Tuesday, Roth Capital Partners analysts Elemer Piros takes a quick look at Spark Therapeutics Inc ONCE ahead of its lock-up expiration, which will take place on Wednesday -- up to 16.5 million restricted shares could become freely tradeable then.

Related Link: Heads-Up Spark Therapeutics Investors: 4 Wall Street Firms Are Now Bullish

The expert issued a Buy rating and $71.00 12-month price target for the shares, noting that any potential pressure on them would represent an attractive entry point for investors.

Value Drivers

Spark will soon announce the results from a pivotal gene therapy trial for an inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) addressed by SPK-RPE65. Roth estimates that this product has an associated market potential of $250 million.

The report explains that, “While the peak sales estimates for Spark's other programs are multiples of the initial IRD, SPK-RPE65 represents a precedent on both developmental and regulatory fronts. There are more than 200 gene mutations identified to cause IRDs.”

Related Link: Why Gene Therapy Is The Best Bet For Restoring Functional Vision

Moreover, Piros notes, the company’s pipeline is advancing. In the first half of the year, the company treated the first patients suffering from choroideremia, another IRD. Spark and Pfizer Inc. PFE also started, in partnership, a trial in hemophilia B. The expert concludes that, “With >$200MM in the bank, Spark is an enviable position to expeditiously develop the current and yet unannounced members of its pipeline.”

Spark shares are up about 2 percent on Tuesday trading.