89bio price target raised to $18 from $12 at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer raised the firm’s price target on 89bio to $18 from $12 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm is "increasingly confident" in pegozafermin based on read across from the Phase 2b HARMONY study of efruxifermin, which shares a similar mechanism of action in a potentially large market with opportunity for multiple players. Oppenheimer sees pegozafermin as a potentially best-in-class FGF21 analog providing an ideal combination of sustained efficacy with convenient dosing based on 55-100 hour half-life. Further, the firm is "encouraged" by cohort 7 results from the Phase 1b/2a NASH study of pegozafermin showing favorable effects on ALT, lipids, glycemic control, body mass, and liver histology. Oppenheimer believes the HARMONY study of efruxifermin provides proof of concept for the FGF21 class including pegozafermin.