Arbutus Biopharma price target raised to $7 from $5 at Jefferies

Jefferies raised the firm’s price target on Arbutus Biopharma (ABUS) to $7 from $5 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm notes that Arbutus is developing drugs for HepB and despite some modest pipeline progress over the last 1-2 years, the narrative has overwhelmingly centered around the ongoing LNP litigation vs Moderna (MRNA) and Pfizer (PFE) given the massive and potential unprecedented headline damages owed to Arbutus from a royalty on $100B-plus CV19 revenue. Jefferies is bullish on Arbutus’ underlying LNP patent estate as litigation updates this year and the company’s commitment to not use its ATM have driven outperformance at +65% year-to-date vs +10% XBI.