Travere Therapeutics price target lowered to $18 from $32 at H.C. Wainwright

H.C. Wainwright analyst Ed Arce lowered the firm’s price target on Travere Therapeutics to $18 from $32 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The stock sold off 40% after the top-line confirmatory results from the Phase 3 PROTECT study of Filspari missed achieving statistical significance on two-year eGFR total slope, the key confirmatory endpoint agreed to with the FDA for full approval in the U.S., the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says the “slight miss” on confirmatory two-year outcomes endpoint “looks worse than it really is.” There are a number of “meaningful mitigating factors” that, when viewed within the totality of the data, still offer a compelling argument for full approval, especially in the context of an indication in which regulatory precedent is still being adjudicated by the agency in light of recent trial data variability and comparability, contends H.C. Wainwright.