October 2, 2014
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
Investors looking for the next experimental Ebola cure or vaccine should take a close look at Chimerix, Inc.‘s brincidofovir as a possible antiviral solution, an analyst for Piper Jaffray said Thursday.
“One investment opportunity which we believe provides an attractive option for Ebola is CMRX, because the company’s valuation is supported by brincidofovir for its CMV and adenovirus activity, but the fact that the drug may have anti-Ebola activity opens up a new opportunity (that also ties into its smallpox activity),” wrote Joshua Schimmer, a senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, in a note to investors.
“As brincidofovir continues to demonstrate increasingly broad antiviral activity we are decreasing our discount rate from 11 percent to 10.5 percent; our new price target is $37 vs prior $33,” he said, while reiterating the company’s overweight rating.
Schimmer said that fears of Ebola virus spreading beyond Africa are lifting many biotech stocks with Ebola therapies and vaccines—even as many institutional investors are cautious that these ‘momentum’ movements will quickly reverse if the Ebola scare abates. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an upside now, he said.
“Brin has activity and safety. Earlier in Sept, CMRX announced brincidofovir has in vitro activity against Ebola. This adds to brin’s activity against smallpox which is another target for countermeasure stockpiling. As such brin may be a particularly attractive option,” wrote Schimmer.
“Additionally, a key component for a drug being added to a stockpile is generating human safety data. The cumulative experience with brincidofovir should be sufficient to satisfy requirements on this front, which puts it ahead of the field.”
