H.C. Wainwright cuts Iovance target, says hold does not impact lifileucel

H.C. Wainwright lowered the firm’s price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics to $28 from $38 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after the FDA put IOV-LUN-202 on clinical hold following the report of a fatal serious adverse event during the course of the study. Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer that enroll in trials, such as IOV-LUN-202, do so typically with poor prognosis and limited treatment options, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm views the FDA’s hold as a setback for LN-145 and Iovance’s NSCLC program, but believes “it was done out of an abundance of caution from the agency.” H.C. Wainwright still believes that if LN-145 can preserve its favorable profile in NSCLC going forward the therapy has justified further clinical investigation. It adds the hold has zero ompact on lifileucel’s FDA actoin date.