Atea Drop 11.4% on Terminating Collaboration with Roche

Shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AVIR) declined 11.4% in Tuesday’s extended trading session after the company announced its plans to terminate the collaboration with Roche to jointly develop AT-527 drug for the treatment of COVID-19.

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Following the termination of the partnership, effective February 10, 2022, the rights and licenses granted by Atea to Roche will lapse, and Atea will have full rights to continue the clinical development and future commercialization of the drug. (See Atea stock charts on TipRanks)

The CEO and Founder of Atea Pharmaceuticals, Jean-Pierre Sommadossi, PhD, said, “We have the financial resources and the talent to independently drive forward the Phase 3 MORNINGSKY clinical trial program, and we continue to expect data from this trial during the second half of 2022. We are energized by the opportunity to move forward with full ownership, providing us with autonomy to efficiently bring AT-527 to market.”

Progress on AT-527

The company said to have performed a comprehensive nonclinical program in order to reflect the safety profile of AT-527. The results revealed that the drug was non-mutagenic, had no effects on fertility or reproduction and was non-teratogenic.

Further, Atea is evaluating AT-527 across multiple clinical trials that are advancing in parallel, including the global Phase 3 MORNINGSKY trial.

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Wall Street’s Take

Last week, Leerink Partners analyst Roanna Ruiz maintained a Buy rating on Atea with a price target of $20 (76.1% upside potential from current level).

The rest of the Street is cautiously optimistic about the stock and has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 3 Buys and 2 Holds. The average Atea price target of $16.67 implies 46.7% upside potential from current levels. Shares have lost 65.9% over the past year.

Bullish Investor Sentiment

TipRanks’ Stock Investors tool shows that investors currently have a Very Positive stance on Atea with 27.6% of investors on Tipranks increasing their exposure to AVIR stock over the past 30 days.