Oppenheimer ‘not surprised’ by Relay plunge, but thinks 2608 ‘looks like a drug’

After Relay Therapeutics presented "highly anticipated" first-in-human data from RLY-2608 at the AACR meeting, Oppenheimer analyst Matthew Biegler says the firm was "not surprised to see the stock off 20-30% intraday" given its view that expectations for efficacy coming into the data were "too high." However, the safety is "clearly differentiated" from alpelisib, with early signs of anti-tumor activity, says the analyst, who adds: "Call us crazy, but we think this looks like a drug." The firm, which also thinks it’s "unfair to be overly critical on efficacy at this point" with only a dozen breast patients treated at 400 mg BID or higher, reiterates an Outperform rating and $33 price target on Relay shares, which are down $6.07, or 33%, to $12.15 in afternoon trading.