Piper Jaffray analyst Edward Tenthoff reiterates an Overweight rating on Vertex Pharmaceuticals with a $146 price target after the FDA's Pulmonary-Allergy Drug Advisory Committee voted to recommend approval of Orkambi in homozygous F508del patients by a vote of 12 to 1. Tenthoff remains confident in approval by the July 5 PDUFA date. He believes the Orkambi launch will accelerate top-line growth and return Vertex to sustainable profitability. Shares of the drugmaker remain halted with a last trade of $124.08.

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.