Mirati Therapeutics announced that Joseph Leveque, M.D. has been named Chief Medical Officer effective May 18. Isan Chen, M.D., will step down as Chief Medical and Development Officer to lead an early-stage biotech company, however, Dr. Chen will continue to act as an advisor to Mirati.
Reports Q1 revenue $300K, consensus $260K. "Despite the challenges many are facing related to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have continued to advance all of our clinical and preclinical programs. MRTX849, our selective KRAS G12C inhibitor program, is progressing according to plan including enrollment in the registration-enabling arm of the KRYSTAL Phase 1/2 clinical trial in patients with non-small cell lung cancer receiving 2nd or 3rd line therapy. We have also initiated combination trials of MRTX849 with pembrolizumab, cetuximab and TNO155," said CEO Charles Baum. "Today, we are also pleased to report updated overall survival data for our sitravatinib program. Our on-going Phase 2 trial of sitravatinib in combination with nivolumab - MRTX-500 -, continues to demonstrate durable efficacy. Preliminary median OS of 18.1 months was observed for the subset of patients who received the combination as their 2nd or 3rd line of therapy, which is the same profile of patients currently enrolling in SAPPHIRE, our global, randomized Phase 3 clinical trial. We look forward to presenting additional data from the MRTX-500 trial at a future medical conference."
Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Big Lots (BIG) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Sandler with analyst Peter Keith saying after virtual investor meetings, the analyst believes Big Lots will be a long-term beneficiary exiting COVID-19. 2. Kellogg (K) upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Consumer Edge. 3. Wolverine World Wide (WWW) upgraded to Overweight from Sector Weight at KeyBanc with analyst Matthew DeGulis saying while consumer demand remains weak, there are "pockets of relative opportunity" in footwear. 4. Mirati Therapeutics (MRTX) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan with analyst Anupam Rama saying recent physician feedback underscores the potential for the KRAS class as both monotherapy and as part of combination approaches, and highlights the potential for differentiation for Mirati's MRTX849 within the class. 5. Seattle Genetics (SGEN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim with analyst Michael Schmidt saying he has increased conviction in the commercial potential of recently launched Tukysa in HER2+ cancers and Padcev in urothelial cancers. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, Reference Link
As previously reported, JPMorgan analyst Anupam Rama upgraded Mirati Therapeutics to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $116, up from $88. Recent physician feedback underscores the potential for the KRAS class as both monotherapy and as part of combination approaches, and highlights the potential for differentiation for Mirati's MRTX849 within the class, Rama tells investors. The rest of 2020 is "a catalyst-heavy period for the KRAS class," including a key update for MRTX849 due in the second half, the analyst added.
JonesTrading analyst Soumit Roy views the selloff today in shares of Mirati Therapeutics following a widely circulated short report as a buying opportunity. The stock in afternoon trading is down 8%, or $7.36, to $88.02. The report is not based on any new data, but from reanalyzing prior data and the competitive landscape, Roy tells investors in a research note. The key driver to the stock remains the KRAS G12Ci, MRTX849, adds the analyst, who notes Mirati remains the most clinically advanced SMID cap biotech company in KRASi space. Further, Roy continues to see sitravatinib contributing towards Mirati's valuation. The analyst reiterates a Buy rating on the shares with a $130 price target.
Mirati Therapeutics (MRTX) is under pressure on Tuesday after Kerrisdale Capital said it is short shares of the company and that investors are "ignoring KRASi risks." Further, the short-seller argued that while most of Mirati's value is tied up "in the dream of '849," investors are still ascribing significant value to the company's other oncology compound, sitravatinib, which Kerrisdale expects will fail the multiple combination trials Mirati is now conducting. INVESTORS IGNORING KRASI RISKS: In a newly published report, Kerrisdale Capital said it is short shares of Mirati Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company whose lead drug candidate, MRTX-849, is a small-molecule KRAS inhibitor. "While most of Mirati's value is tied up in the dream of '849, investors are still ascribing significant value to Mirati's other oncology compound, sitravatinib. But given sitravatinib's almost complete failure as a single agent, we're confident the drug will fail the multiple combination trials Mirati is now conducting. Bolstering our confidence are the weak data, a barely believable mechanism of action, and a sloppy trial riddled with data discrepancies and irregularities that are easily identified in Mirati's sitravatinib presentations. With both '849 and Sitravatinib destined for futility, and its pipeline practically non-existent, Mirati investors will soon discover that the only thing the company can successfully inhibit is their performance," the report reads. "Mirati's opportunity set is therefore best described as an extremely low-percentage chance of attaining a low-percentage share of a $600-800 million market circa 2025. What's that worth right now? A small fraction of $4.6 billion. Investors who have gambled on the M&A prospects of what amounts to a single dead-end compound will soon find out they're on the wrong path." PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, shares of Mirati have dropped almost 5% to $91.05. Reference Link
Kerrisdale Capital said in a series of tweets: "We're short $MRTX. Report available at kerr.co/mrtx. Mirati's multi-billion-dollar valuation rests primarily on its KRAS(G12C) inhibitor, MRTX-849, and to a lesser extent, multi-kinase inhibitor sitravatinib. Both are dead end drugs...At more than $4.5bn, Mirati's valuation assumes great clinical success & maybe some M&A. But the future of its 2 drugs is bleaker than ever, not to mention G12C competition & 2nd-gen KRASi looming. At best $MRTX is worth a fraction of $4.5bn. At worst, it's a zero." Reference Link