Piper Jaffray said the briefing documents posted for next Tuesday's advisory committee meeting on Vertex's Orkambi combo drug did not raise any new or surprise safety concerns and that the efficacy concerns raised do not "hold much water" when compared to the unmet clinic benefit of the drug. The firm said it remains confident in a positive panel vote and approval of the drug by the May 5 PDUFA date and reiterate kits Overweight rating and $146 price target on Vertex shares.

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.