Durect price target lowered to $41 from $44 at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Kristen Kluska lowered the firm’s price target on Durect to $41 from $44 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. Durect reported Q2 earnings and announced hitting its enrollment target for the ongoing Phase 2b AHFIRM trial for its lead candidate larsucosterol in alcohol associated hepatitis in June, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm continues to believe that there is strong potential for larsucosterol toachieve the primary endpoint of 90-day mortality or liver transplant in severe AH patients and believes the company’s ongoing medical education efforts ahead of the topline data could help to prime the market for the first potentially approved, efficacious therapy in AH.