Relypsa (RLYP): Veltassa's Path To Preferred Hyperkalemia Treatment - Wedbush

Wedbush analyst, Liana Moussatos, sees multiple reasons Relypsa's (NASDAQ: RLYP) Veltassa could develop into the preferred chronic treatment for Hyperkalemia despite adverse events. No change to Outperform rating or $51 PT.

Late on May 26th , AstraZeneca announced receipt of a complete response letter (CRL) instead of approval for ZS-9--a competing hyperkalemia drug candidate. The press release indicated manufacturing issues and recent submission of clinical data which we understand was a DDI study. Manufacturing issues could delay an approval decision to 2017 and give Relypsa more than a year to establish Veltassa as the preferred chronic treatment for hyperkalemia. Since then we have observed increasing investor interest in Veltassa and RLYP stock value has increased.

Bear arguments indicate Veltassa has many adverse events reported to the FDA; however, the FDA has not issued any warnings. The analyst believes this is due to adverse events being common in CKD and heart failure patients therefore they are not being considered to be drug related.

Physicians are testing Veltassa in a few patients as they change their approach to treating hyperkalemia. Before Veltassa became available, non-acute hyperkalemia treatment was intermittent - either by temporarily reducing or eliminating treatments for CKD and heart failure which elevate potassium or by short-term use of sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS). Now physicians are in the process of changing their practice to use of a chronic add-on therapy.

Additionally, the analyst anticipates an improvement to Veltassa’s product insert around year-end, which could accelerate its use.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Relypsa, Inc. click here. For more ratings news on Relypsa, Inc. click here.

Shares of Relypsa, Inc. closed at $20.78 yesterday.

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