Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Kristen Kluska believes the jump in Rigel Pharmaceuticals' (RIGL) shares on Monday is due to a preliminary research report citing fostamatinib as a potential candidate for treating acute lung injury related to COVID-19. The analyst sees the study results, and the supportive safety profile of fostamatinib, supporting additional studies of the drug in treating COVID-19.
POSSIBLE ROLE FOR RIGEL IN TREATING COVID INJURY: Citi analyst Yigal Nochomovitz told investors that "an interesting study" by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard that was published online on June 30 demonstrated that Rigel Pharmaceuticals' Tavalisse could have future potential to treat acute lung injury caused by COVID-19. In the study, the drug's active metabolite was identified as the top hit in a screen of a library of 3,713 compounds that are either Food and Drug Administration-approved or at various stages of clinical development, according to Nochomovitz, who has a Buy rating and $7 price target on Rigel shares.
Meanwhile, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Kristen Kluska attributed the outperformance in Rigel Pharmaceuticals’ shares on Monday to the preliminary research report citing its fostamatinib, otherwise known as Tavalisse, as a potential candidate for treating acute lung injury related to COVID-19. The researchers conducted what Kluska views as "a very thorough investigation" of clinical stage and commercial products with the potential to reduce Mucin-1, or MUC1, which is a biomarker that could be studied given that elevated levels could be predictive of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The analyst believes their results, and the supportive safety profile from fostamatinib through multiple studies and over two years of commercialization, support additional studies of fostamatinib in treating COVID-19. She has an Overweight rating and $5 price target on Rigel shares.
PRICE ACTION: In afternoon trading, shares of Rigel have jumped over 23% to $2.19.
At the time of publication, Rigel had not replied to The Fly’s request for comment on the study and analyst notes.
Rigel Pharmaceuticals
+0.41 (+23.03%)