William Blair analyst Y. Katherine Xu raised her price target for ARIAD Pharmaceuticals to $15 from $12 on higher sales expectations. The analyst upped her peak global sales forecast of Iclusig to $1.1B from $900M, based on projected increased second-line uptake in 2019 and beyond. Xu also increased her estimate for global peak sales of brigatinib to $790M from $640M, based on a competitive profile analysis after the European Society of Medical Oncology meeting. Her model values Iclusig in chronic myelogenous leukemia at $9 per share and brigatinib at $6 per share, with a 90% probability of success in ALK+ non-small-cell lung cancer. Xu keeps an Outperform rating on shares of ARIAD. She believes the recent congressional inquiry on Iclusig pricing is unlikely to affect her peak sales estimates. ARIAD remains an attractive takeout candidate in the 2017-2018 timeframe "given the pending brigatinib approval and the strength of the portfolio," Xu tells investors in a research note. ARIAD in pre-market trading is up 14c to $9.48.