Esperion downgraded to Underperform at Northland amid milestone uncertainty

Northland downgraded Esperion to Underperform from Market Perform with a price target of $1, down from $5. There is uncertainty around the company’s receipt of $300M in milestone payments from partner Daiichi Sankyo Group since the latter disagrees with Esperion’s assessment that the CLEAR Outcomes data supports payment of any milestones upon inclusion of certain required CVRR data in the EU label, the firm noted. The firm cites what it sees as "limited market potential" and the possibility of "significant dilution" in its downgrade.