BioNTech raised to buy at Jefferies on new cancer drug

BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) shares traded higher on Tuesday after Jefferies upgraded the German COVID-19 vaccine maker to Buy from Hold, citing the potential of a new cancer drug it is developing with its Chinese partner Biotheus.

The treatment known as BNT327/PM8002 belongs to a new class of cancer drugs called PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibodies, which gained investor interest following encouraging late-stage trial data for a similar treatment developed by Summit Therapeutics (SMMT).

Summit’s (SMMT) drug, identified as ivonescimab, outperformed Merck’s (MRK) blockbuster anti-PD-1 therapy Keytruda as a first-line option in a late-stage trial called HARMONi-2 against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the company announced last week.

“While we’re still TBD if the signal SMMT showed in the HARMONi-2 study could be real, this may not be just a 1L NSCLC story,” Jefferies analyst Akash Tewari wrote, adding that BNT327 could be a significant revenue drive for BioNTech (BNTX).

Tewari raised his price target on BNTX to $150 from $96 as he projected €3.6B in risk-adjusted peak sales for BNT327.