Roivant Sciences shares finished more than 20% higher on Tuesday after Immunovant, in which Roivant holds a 56.5% stake, released positive data from an early-stage study of its key asset IMVT-1402, a FcRn inhibitor being developed to treat a range of autoimmune diseases.
Analysts at Jefferies raised their price target on Roivant stock following Immunovant’s data release from $14 to $16 and awarded it a 'Buy' rating.
Roivant shares closed up 21.55% at US$12.41.
The Jefferies analysts noted that Roivant holds two highly strategic and de-risked assets targeting Behcet’s disease (BD), FcRn and TL1A, with blockbuster potential and high pharma interest.
“We’re focused on BD and how ROIV can monetize the portfolio,” the analysts wrote.
“Interestingly, management indicated that an outright takeout for the whole company may not be fully off the table and would obviously depend on strategic focus for the acquirer.”
Roivant’s market capitalization at the analysts’ time of writing was $10 billion, which they wrote was about $5 billion for TL1A, $2.5 billion for FcRn and $1 billion to $1.5 billion for cash.
The balance of $1 billion to $1.5 billion is made up of Vtama, minor value for brepocitinib, its early pipeline, and MRNA LNP patent litigation, the analysts wrote.
They believe upside can come from Roivant’s potential acquisition of TL1A and/or FcRn, results from the 600mg multi-dose study of FcRN in November, and lupus data in the fourth quarter.
“While we were nervous on the setup into the single-dose update given tricky risk/reward, ROIV provided an initial multi-dose data, too, which looked solid so far and helps de-risk the high 600mg dose update in November, particularly on albumin,” the analysts wrote.
“Thus, we believe that 600mg multi-dose data should be positive too and that the market already appreciates some of this given the stock move today.”
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