Guggenheim starts Mersana with a Buy on UpRi’s potential

As previously reported last night, Guggenheim analyst Michael Schmidt initiated coverage of Mersana Therapeutics with a Buy rating and $14 price target. Mersana has developed a proprietary antibody drug conjugate, or ADC, technology platform that “holds the promise to generate product candidates with potentially differentiated properties and pursuing differentiated targets,” the analyst tells investors. Upifitamab rilsodotin, or “UpRi,” which is currently in registration trials for patients with platinum-resistant and platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer, is Mersana’s main near-term value driver, says the firm, which notes that its price target reflects 80% odds of success for the UPLIFT study and no value for XMT-1660, with Mersana’s emerging B7-H4 ADC offering “longer-term pipeline optionality.”