J&J conference call comments ‘a good sign’ for Protagonist, says JMP Securities

JMP Securities analyst Jonathan Wolleben reiterated an Outperform rating and $21 price target on Protagonist Therapeutics (PTGX) after Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) highlighted the upcoming data and opportunity for the oral IL-23R antagonist PN-235 on its quarterly call. JMP said that the mention of PN-235 on the call seems like a good sign for the ongoing partnership with Phase 2 data from both the FRONTIER 1 and SUMMIT trials for psoriasis coming this year. The firm views the partnership with Johnson & Johnson and the progress on PN-235 as validation for Protagonist’s developmental capabilities and considers downstream payments from the partnership as upside to the firm’s valuation.