AbbVie price target raised to $209 from $196 at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler raised the firm’s price target on AbbVie (ABBV) to $209 from $196 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. Piper’s new dermatology survey feedback indicates that while Regeneron’s (REGN) Dupixent remains the dominant first-line atopic dermatitis therapy, Galderma’s nemolizumab may pose more of a threat than anticipated, especially in patients presenting with severe itch, the analyst tells investors in a research note. In the second-line setting, the analyst sees an even more competitive setup as AbbVie’s (ABBV) Rinvoq “appears to have stagnated” at the hands of Leo Pharma’s Adbry. With a slew of mid- and late-stage data from numerous novel mechanisms anticipated in coming quarters, the atopic dermatitis market “is poised to become increasingly crowded,” the analyst tells investors in a research note.