BridgeBio Pharma (B.B.I.) marked a “best case scenario” for its heart disease drug on Monday and BBIO stock was catapulted into a breakout while pulling shares of its rival Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) upper.
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The company tested its drug, dubbed acoramidis, in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, one of the leading causes of heart failure. In this disease, abnormal proteins build up in the heart.
BridgeBio’s drug attempts to stabilize transthyretin, a mutated protein at the center of the disease. After 30 months, 81% of patients with acoramidis were still alive compared to only 74% of placebo recipients.
In addition, acoramidis resulted in a 50% reduction in the risk of hospitalization for cardiovascular problems. And, patients who received acoramidis treatment showed significant improvement in the distance they could walk for six minutes, a measure of disease severity.
According to Luca Issi, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, the results confirm the benefits of stabilizing transthyretin in this disease.
“We think this bodes well for other companies in the industry,” he said in a note to clients.
While BBIO stock jumped 80.5% near 32.90, Alnylam stock jumped 8.4% near 213.70. Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS), which also works to treat the same disease, rose a fraction near 42.60, in morning trade on today’s stock market.
BBIO stock: earnings are 12-18 months
Pfizer (DFP) already treats transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy with its drug Vyndamax. Last year, the drug brought in $2.45 billion in sales, growing 21% on a strict basis, as noted.
Mizuho Securities analyst Salim Syed says Vyndamax is only a fraction penetrated into the market. He says BridgeBio could eventually turn over $2 billion in sales in that market.
“It is important to note that the BridgeBio story should now pivot to a business and/or platform story from an investor engagement perspective,” he said in a note. “We expect new constructive positions to form now that we have passed the historically great binary and trading revenue is likely only 12-18 months away.”
It has a buy rating and a target price of 29 on BBIO stock.
Notably, stocks also have a strong digital IBD Relative strength rating of 97. This means BridgeBio stock ranks in the top 3% of all stocks when it comes to 12-month performance.
BBIO stock broke out a consolidation with a point of purchase at 7:95 p.m., according to MarketSmith.com.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
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