MoonLake Immunotherapeutics price target lowered to $20 from $66 at Needham

Needham analyst Serge Belanger lowered the firm’s price target on MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (MLTX) to $20 from $66 but keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The stock traded down significantly on disappointing Phase 3 results where VELA-2 missed its primary endpoint due to a higher placebo effect, with the regulatory path forward looking uncertain and worst case scenario being that MoonLake needs to conduct another phase 3 trial, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Beyond the slight but very consequential miss on VELA-2’s primary endpoint however, sonelokimab demonstrated efficacy that was mostly in-line/better than Bimzelx on nearly all endpoints in both trials, the firm added.