Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald have initiated coverage on Atossa Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ATOS) with an ‘Overweight’ rating and a $5 price target on their belief that positive trial data readouts for Atossa's investigational breast cancer drug will drive upward earnings estimate revisions and send the firm's stock higher.
Atossa’s shares traded up on Friday morning, adding 11.5% to US$0.83.
“The peak sales potential of ATOS’ pipeline is underappreciated, in our view,” the Cantor analysts wrote in a note to clients.
Atossa is currently studying (Z)-endoxifen for breast cancer in three Phase 2 studies with the possibility of positive readouts for its ongoing trials supported by previous studies, the analysts highlighted.
Near-term data readouts include the Phase 2 80mg pharmacokinetic (PK) data readout from EVANGELINE for premenopausal women with ER+/HER2- breast cancer guided for the first quarter of 2024; the Phase 2 data readout from Phase 2 I-SPY 2 study in neoadjuvant ER+ breast cancer guided for the third quarter of 2024; and the Phase 2 data from Atossa’s Karisma-Endoxifen study guided for the second half of 2024.
They added that Atossa is targeting large market opportunities with (Z)-endoxifen.
“(Z)-endoxifen has the potential to work in all three areas of the breast cancer paradigm: 1) to mitigate breast cancer risk, by reducing the density of breast tissue; 2) to reduce the cancer cell activity before surgery; and 3) to reduce the risk of recurrent or new breast cancer after the initial treatment,” they wrote.
“We believe the market has underappreciated (Z)-endoxifen's potential across prevention setting, neoadjuvant/Window of Opportunity, and adjuvant setting in breast cancer.”
Meanwhile, analysts at Ascendiant Capital Markets have upped their price target on Atossa stock from $5.25 to $5.50, also maintaining their ‘Buy’ rating.
“We believe this valuation appropriately balances out the company’s high risks with the company’s high growth prospects and large upside opportunities,” they wrote.
The Ascendiant analysts also believe that Atossa’s achievement of key clinical milestones and data readouts over the next year will likely be catalysts for the stock.
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