Wells Fargo upgrades Fate Therapeutics to Outperform after pipeline updates

Wells Fargo analyst Jim Birchenough upgraded Fate Therapeutics to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $24, up from $16. The shares closed Friday up 10c to $13.67. The analyst upgraded Fate following this weekend's update for the company's iPSC-derived NK-cell therapeutics pipeline, initial data for iPSC NKcell therapies FT500 and FT516, and updated comments on CD19 CAR-NK therapeutic FT596. Overall, data update appeared well received by both clinicians and investors, Birchenough tells investors in a research note. He believes "demonstrated feasibility of consistent repeat dosing" with FT500, initial evidence of monotherapy activity for FT516 in "difficult to treat patients" and expectations for monotherapy benefit with FT596 at a dose above that validated by competing CD19 CAR-NK from MD Anderson all support upside potential into 2020. The homogeneity of Fate's "off-the-shelf" NKcell therapeutics and relatively low cost of goods "have established a high technical bar for competitors," contends Birchenough.