Fate Therapeutics downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush

Wedbush analyst David Nierengarten downgraded Fate Therapeutics (FATE) to Neutral from Outperform with a price target of $7, down from $42, after Janssen (JNJ) terminated their collaboration agreement. Following Janssen’s decision, Fate said it plans to dramatically cut back their spend and pipeline programs, discontinuing clinical development of its FT516, FT536, FT538, and FT596 NK cell programs and reduce its headcount by ~220 employees, Nierengarten tells investors in a research note. While the analyst understands the re-focusing, the remaining clinical-stage programs are both early stage and in highly competitive spaces that already include two approved CAR-T products in MM and four approved CAR-T products in B-cell lymphomas.