Maxim downgrades Monopar on termination of lead asset Validive

Maxim analyst Jason McCarthy downgraded Monopar Therapeutics to Hold from Buy without a price target after the company announced that the Phase 2b/3 trial of its lead asset Validive in severe oral mucositis prevention in patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy will be terminated. The firm removed Validive from its model, which was the main driver of its thesis. The company’s camsirubicin program is still early stage and will take time and capital to develop, the analyst tells investors in a research note. It pushed out commercial assumptions to 2028, from 2026.