Drugmakers Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) and Sanofi (SNY) announced earlier today that their experimental antibody therapy, duvakitug, showed impressive results in a clinical trial for patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), which are two major forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In the Phase 2b RELIEVE UCCD study, nearly 48% of UC patients on a high dose achieved clinical remission compared to 20% on a placebo, while 48% of CD patients showed significant improvement on the same dose versus 13% on placebo.
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The therapy, which targets inflammation in the gut, was well tolerated, with no major safety concerns reported. Unsurprisingly, this boosted the optimism for its potential use as a new treatment option. Teva and Sanofi plan to move forward with Phase 3 trials after consulting regulators, with hopes that the drug could address the urgent need for better therapies for IBD patients.
As a result, the promising data created excitement among investors, who sent Teva’s stock up over 26% and Sanofi’s shares up over 7% at the time of writing. Both companies are confident that duvakitug could be a game-changing option for patients suffering from IBD by significantly improving their quality of life.
Is Teva Stock a Good Buy Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on TEVA stock based on five Buys, one Hold, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 105% rally in its share price over the past year, the average TEVA price target of $23 per share implies 10.5% upside potential.
