H.C. Wainwright analyst Andrew Fein raised his price target for Insmed (INSM) to $43 from $35 following yesterday's 12-2 FDA panel vote in favor of ALIS in refractory nontuberculous mycobacterial patients. Insmed is now likely to be acquired as ALIS "fits well within the pipeline of a number of larger companies," Fein tells investors in a research note. He expects the company's Q3 conference call "may well be its last." The analyst sees AstraZeneca (AZN), Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) as potential acquirers of Insmed. He reiterates a Buy rating on Insmed.

Bearish flow noted in AstraZeneca with 3,362 puts trading, or 1.7x expected. Most active are 4/26 weekly 70 puts and May-24 70 calls, with total volume in those strikes near 3,600 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 1.72, while ATM IV is up nearly 2 points on the day. Earnings are expected on April 25th.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals and TreeFrog Therapeutics announced that Vertex has obtained an exclusive license to TreeFrog's proprietary cell manufacturing technology, C-Stem, to optimize production of Vertex's cell therapies for type 1 diabetes, or T1D. TreeFrog and Vertex will collaborate to scale-up TreeFrog's process to produce and amplify cells for Vertex's T1D therapies. TreeFrog's proprietary technology platform, C-Stem, is designed to mimic the natural microenvironment, allowing cells to grow exponentially in 3D. The technology will enhance Vertex's ability to generate large amounts of fully differentiated cells for its portfolio of T1D cell therapies.

Cantor Fitzgerald lowered the firm's price target on Gilead to $75 from $78 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm, which made slight adjustments to all of its large-cap biotechnology models ahead of Q1 earnings season for the group, lowered its target for Gilead given slower expected HIV growth. The "usual seasonal headwinds that typically make this one of the weaker quarters for the industry," the analyst added in the preview note.