After a period of steady underperformance, investors should pick up shares of biotech Prime Medicine as regains the market’s favor, according to Citi. Analyst Samantha Semenkow upgraded the preclinical-stage company to buy from neutral and kept her price target of $10 per share, which implies 47.9% potential upside from the stock’s latest close. Prime’s shares are down 23.7% this year but have advanced more than 37% this month, fueled by positive quarterly results released on Friday, during which the company released several updates tied to its programs in hematology and immunology, liver, ocular and neuromuscular. “While Prime’s in vivo programs are still several years from entering the clinic, we find it encouraging that many are advancing into lead optimization or IND-enabling studies over the next ~12-24 months,” Semenkow said in a note. “At current valuations, we see favorable risk reward for PRME.” As part of her bullish thesis on the stock, the analyst pointed out that Prime in April had announced that the Food and Drug Administration cleared its investigational new drug application for PM359 for the treatment of chronic granulomatous disease, a rare genetic disorder. That milestone led Prime to reiterate its guidance for the advancement of multiple pipeline programs over the remainder of this year, she said. Per its earnings release, Prime will announce the initial clinical data from phase 1/2 of its clinical trial of PM359 in 2025. To be sure, Semenkow said she remains cautious on Prime’s cash position and expects the Cambridge-based company to need to raise again in the next 12 to 18 months. Ongoing [business development] efforts could provide a source of non-dilutive cash and potential upside to her target price, she added. Additionally, the analyst acknowledged that several of Prime’s most attractive programs, such as its treatment of Huntington’s disease, are “some of the most technically difficult and still early staged.” Prime on Friday reported quarterly earnings at a loss of 44 cents per share, beating analysts’ forecast of loss of 45 cents per share, per FactSet. Research and development expenses totaled $37.8 million for the period, coming out below the $40 million forecast. The company also had significantly more cash and cash equivalents on hand at the end of the previous quarter compared to the end of last year.
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