Immuneering stock target cut to $15 by Needham

On Friday, Needham revised its price target for Immuneering Corporation (NASDAQ:IMRX), reducing it to $15.00 from the previous $20.00, while maintaining a Buy rating on the stock. The adjustment follows the release of Phase 1b data for IMM-1-104, Immuneering’s drug candidate. The data confirmed the mechanism of action (MOA) at various levels but raised concerns about its standalone efficacy.

IMM-1-104’s Phase 1b trial results indicated that the drug was safely administered at the recommended phase 2 dose of 320mg without serious treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs). Furthermore, the drug demonstrated pERK inhibition and prevented new RAS mutations. Despite these positive outcomes, the lack of partial responses (PR) or complete responses (CR) in the trial participants was noted.

The study showed that 53% of patients experienced regression in at least one lesion, and there were instances of stable disease (SD); however, no PRs or CRs were observed. The absence of PRs and CRs could be attributed to several factors, including the small sample size, the advanced stage of cancer in two-thirds of the participants, and a lack of response to prior therapies in 82% of the patients.

The analyst from Needham expressed optimism for the drug’s potential efficacy in earlier treatment lines, particularly for NRAS melanoma post-immunotherapy and first-line pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), based on preclinical data.

Nonetheless, the probability of success (POS) in their model was lowered to reflect the diminished likelihood of significant efficacy as a monotherapy, as suggested by the clinical data to date. This led to the revised price target of $15.00 for Immuneering Corporation’s shares.

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