https://www.barrons.com/articles/gene-therapy-biomarin-spark-can-both-win-treating-hemophilia-1531150250
Gene Therapy: BioMarin, Spark Can Both Win Treating Hemophilia
Teresa Rivas
July 9, 2018 11:30 am ET
Gene therapy has been hailed as a potential breakthrough treatment for many diseases, and today Credit Suisse's Martin Auster takes a look at its future for hemophilia treatment.
Auster writes that gene therapy could become a "foundational approach in hemophilia management," with important data points due out this summer from Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) Pfizer (PFE) that will "incrementally evolve the landscape."
He writes that there are signs of high patient demand for new treatments, and that gene therapy could be a more cost-efficient way to improve poor outcomes for hemophilia patients in the emerging markets. The stakes are still high: Auster believes that if issues arise, "uptake would ultimately disappoint greatly," but if long-term safety and durability is established, he expects "broad adoption of gene therapy given convenience and economic benefits."
Ultimately, he believes that in this environment, the binary debate of Spark versus BioMarin Pharmaceuticals (BMRN) isn't the full picture. While plenty of investors are trying to predict who will be the winner in this new area of the market, Auster argues that if durability and long-term safety are confirmed, the market appears to have enough room for two or three hemophilia products to succeed, given different clinical and patient preferences.
As such, he has an Outperform rating on both Spark and BioMarin, with price targets of $75 and $120, respectively.
The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) is rising two cents, to $116.23 today, and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) is down 0.5% to $99.73.
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