Piper Jaffray analyst Edward Tenthoff notes that Spring Bank (SBPH) entered into a research agreement with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, to study preclinical HBV antisense oligonucleotides. With the recent Arrowhead (ARWR) partnership with Janssen (JNJ), the analyst sees this as a "smart development program" building on Spring Bank's HBV expertise. Tenthoff also notes that Spring Bank is conducting the Phase IIb CATALYST 1 and 2 trials of 400mg inarigivir monotherapy/combination with Vemlidy in naive and suppressed HBV patients with preliminary data in the second quarter of 2020, while partner Gilead (GILD) is conducting a Phase II study of inarigivir plus Vemlidy in naive and suppressed HBV patients with initial data likely at AASLD in November. He reiterates an Overweight rating and $10 price target on Spring Bank's shares.

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals announced that it has dosed the first subjects in a Phase 1/2a clinical trial, NCT06209177 or of ARO-CFB, the company's investigational RNA interference RNAi therapeutic, in up to 66 healthy volunteers and patients with complement mediated kidney disease. James Hamilton, M.D., MBA, Chief of Discovery and Translational Medicine at Arrowhead, said: "In preclinical studies, ARO-CFB achieved deep and durable reductions in liver production of complement factor B, which is involved in alternative complement pathway activation and associated with pathogenesis of diseases involving complement activation. ARO-CFB is our second clinical program designed to address diseases associated with activation of the complement pathway, the first being ARO-C3, our Phase 1 program targeting complement component 3. We look forward to further progressing both programs to investigate whether these candidates can address the substantial unmet medical need that remains in the treatment of multiple complement mediated diseases." ARO-CFB is designed to reduce hepatic expression of complement factor B CFB , which plays an important regulatory role in amplifying complement alternative pathway activation and has been identified as a promising therapeutic target. ARO-CFB is being developed as a potential treatment for complement mediated kidney diseases such as immunoglobulin A nephropathy IgAN , which is the most common glomerular disease worldwide and carries a high lifetime risk of progression to end-stage renal disease. Additionally, ARO-CFB may have clinical applications in non-renal diseases involving complement activation.

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.