Chardan Capital Markets Starts Arbutus Biopharma (ABUS) at Sell

Chardan Capital Markets initiates coverage on Arbutus Biopharma (NASDAQ: ABUS) with a Sell rating and a price target of $3.25.

Analyst Madhu Kumar commented, "We initiate coverage on Arbutus Biopharma Corp. (ABUS) with a Sell rating (PT $3.25), on our view that risk-reward dynamics are downwardly skewed ahead of 2H16 clinical catalysts. Arbutus is a clinical-stage biotech company aiming to treat chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) through various technologies, including RNAi, which uses a small RNA to silence a target gene. Arbutus’ lead asset is a RNAi therapy targeting the HBV virus, ARB-1467, which is currently in a phase IIa clinical trial, with single-dose data expected in 3Q16 and multi-dose data expected in 4Q16."

In the firm's view, Arbutus faces significant competition in the HBV RNAi therapy space from:

• Arrowhead (unrated): achieved clinical proof of concept (POC) with > 97% suppression of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in a phase IIa trial with ARC-520, versus roughly 75% for ARB-1467 in a preclinical study
• Alnylam (Buy): achieved at least six clinical POCs in the liver and expects to begin phase I studies with ALN-HBV in mid-2016
• Benitec (unrated): uses an AAV-based approach with HB-BB-331 for RNAi gene therapy and expects to file an IND in 3Q17

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Arbutus Biopharma click here. For more ratings news on Arbutus Biopharma click here.

Shares of Arbutus Biopharma closed at $4.35 yesterday.

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