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The commercial-stage biotech, Aurinia Prescription drugs (AUPH -4.7%), is buying and selling decrease for the third straight session on Wednesday to achieve a seven-month low after a number of Wall Avenue analysts trimmed their value targets on the inventory citing the company’s lackluster Q4 2021 results.
Regardless of upbeat remarks from its chief govt forward of the earnings, Aurinia’s (NASDAQ:AUPH) 2022 gross sales steering fell in need of expectations as web income for the yr dropped ~9% YoY to $45.6M whereas web loss widened ~76% YoY to $181.0M.
Citing COVID-19 headwinds on the topline, Oppenheimer analyst Justin Kim, who has an Outperform score on the inventory, has slashed the worth goal to $18 from $31 per share to suggest a premium of ~50% to the final shut.
The analyst wrote that “pandemic headwinds persist, with hints of 4Q21 momentum mired by the omicron variant and new affected person begin varieties totaling 201 PSFs QTD.” The This fall 2021 affected person begin varieties improved by 17% sequentially to achieve 477, increasing the 2021 PSF to greater than 1,500, the corporate reported in its earnings launch on Monday. “Discordance on ‘aggressive’ 2022 income steering ($115–$135M) has not helped the tape, as consensus estimates (together with our personal) maybe now unrealistically relied upon industrial inflection over regular incremental development” Kim added.
In the meantime, Jefferies analyst Maury Raycroft, with a Purchase score on Aurinia (AUPH), has minimize the per share goal to $29 from $34 to suggest a premium of ~142% to the final shut. Raycroft attributes the discrepancy between the steering and Avenue forecasts to 25% – 30% affected person discontinuations estimated for the lupus nephritis therapy, Lupkynis.
Nevertheless, issues over mental property rights for the remedy seem to have additionally weighed on firm shares lately. Within the 10-Ok report submitted on Monday, Aurinia (AUPH) disclosed a brand new patent problem filed by the generic drugmaker Solar Prescription drugs on Feb. 24 concerning a key patent for Lupkynis. “We’re at the moment reviewing the petition and contemplating our response and next steps,” the company said.
