Vertex Pharmaceuticals price target raised to $340 from $305 at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley raised the firm’s price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals to $340 from $305 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The firm highlights two key upcoming pivotal program readouts, telling investors it expects data from the two Phase 3 SKYLINE trials of the company’s next-gen cystic fibrosis combo, the Vanzacaftor triple, and from three Phase3 trials of VX-548 for pain. The firm sees a low probability for SKYLINE 102 to show superiority to Trikafta, but expects non-inferiority on lung function, adding that it believes VX-548 Phase 3 pain data is “likely to be more debated and drive a larger potential move in the stock” relative to the next-gen CF combo data.