Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) shares jumped 26.29% to $17.55 as a research firm cited several factors supporting the approval of eteplirsen.
Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) shares retreated 2.06% in after-hours trading but investors are hopeful that the anticipation for an accelerated approval for eteplirsen, an RNA-based therapeutic drug designed treatment of some mutations that cause the genetic degenerative muscle disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), could keep gains coming.
Eteplirsen is an antisense phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO) therapeutic in Phase III clinical development for the treatment of individuals with DMD having an error in the gene coding for dystrophin that is amenable to skipping exon 51.
Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery and development of RNA-based therapeutics for the treatment of rare, infectious and other diseases. It operates on its own behalf or in collaboration with other companies in similar fields.
According to research firm Oppenheimer, patients suffering from DMD could see improvement from the use of eteplirsen. The firm also noted that recent FDA decisions showed more flexibility in encouraging drug development, as the FDA “takes into consideration more than just science law” for instance with its approval of Addyi for the treatment of female patients with sexual dysfunction despite the drug having marginal efficacy.
This could pave the way for a recovery in Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT) shares, which have previously suffered a downgrade from analysts after an FDA panel rejected its DMD drug last month. At that time, seven committee members maintained that there wasn’t any sufficient evidence of the drug’s effectiveness, three voted for approval while three abstained.
Oppenheimer upgraded its forecast to $60, representing more then a 300% gain in the current stock price. The research firm sees eteplirsen contributing $32 a share based on its revenue potential through 2030, provided there is accelerated approval and a 2016 launch.
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