Chardan Capital Trims PT on Esperion (ESPR) Following Q2 Results, TAK-475 Failure Concerning for ETC-1002

Chardan Capital affirms its Sell rating on Esperion (Nasdaq: ESPR) and cuts its price target from $45 to $40 following Q2 results.

Analyst Gbola Amusa commented, Esperion reported 2Q basic and diluted EPS of -$0.55, versus our expectation of -$0.56. A share count of 22.5 mm was 9% above our expectation of 20.6 mm (and drives our price target change from $45 to $40), and ESPR further guided for 2015 non-cash expenses of approximately $12.5 mm, up from prior guidance of $10 mm, and primarily consists of stock-based compensation. The timing of milestones was broadly unchanged, and ESPR produced new data on ETC-1002 efficacy and safety that do little to mitigate our concerns. We therefore now emphasize that the failure for Takeda's TAK-475 in 2008, the year Pfizer sold ETC-1002 to Esperion for $5 million, is a concerning precedent for ESPR shares and reiterate our Sell rating. (TAK-475 was another drug, like ETC-1002, working upstream/downstream of statins and was suboptimally also tested with moderate-intensity statins. We understand regulators wanted to see superiority for TAK-475 over existing therapies, so it was discontinued.)

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Esperion Therapeutics click here. For more ratings news on Esperion Therapeutics click here.

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