Fate Therapeutics downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer analyst Matthew Biegler downgraded Fate Therapeutics to Perform from Outperform as part of a broader downgrade on the NKcell therapy space. The analyst believes Fate is "in a tricky spot right now." Its iPSC technology clearly works; its therapies, including FT596 and FT576, are clearly active – but its activity looks inferior to approved CAR-Ts, Biegler notes. Meanwhile, bispecific antibodies keep looking better and better, and benefit from an easier administration than Fate’s products, he adds. The analyst thinks that while optimizations, such as immune cloaking and persistence boosting, are very possible with Fate’s technology, they are still years away. Further, he believes these optimizations may ultimately be necessary to realize the true potential of Fate’s technology: Use in upfront treatment settings.