lerbank Esperion Therapeutics ( NASDAQ: ESPR ) closed down ~16% Thursday after BofA Securities said it was downgrading the stock to underperform from neutral on competitiveness concerns. The firm also cut its target price to $2.50 from $2.
90 (~9% upside based on Thursday's close). Analyst Jason Zemansky noted Merck's recent announcement that it plans to test its oral PCSK9 MK-0616 against bempedoic acid, marketed by Esperion as Nexletol. MK-0616 is in phase 3 development .
While bempedoic acid is seen as an alternative to those who are unable to tolerate statin medication to lower cholesterol, "we've struggled to see a path to broad adoption, largely given it relatively low efficacy." Zemansky added that oral PCSK9s tend to have far better LDL-C lowering abilities than bempedoic acid. More on Esperion Therapeutics Buy Esperion Therapeutics Despite An Abiding Skepticism Weighing On The Stock Esperion's late stage trial of high cholesterol treatment met main goal Esperion Therapeutics beats top-line and bottom-line estimates; reaffirms FY24 outlook Esperion Therapeutics, Inc.
(ESPR) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. 2024 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation.