89bio down 27% after Akero reports NASH trial data

Shares of 89bio (ETNB) are down $4.22, or 27%, to $11.31 in pre-market trading after rival drugmaker Akero Therapeutics (AKRO) reported a 36-week analysis of SYMMETRY, a 96-week Phase 2b study evaluating the efficacy and safety of its lead product candidate efruxifermin in patients with compensated cirrhosis due to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH. Previously, on July 3, BTIG analyst Justin Zelin raised the firm’s price target on 89bio to $37 following 89bio’s positive results from the Phase 2b ENLIVEN study earlier this year and the company’s updates at EASL. At that time, the firm had said that pegozafermin’s comparable efficacy, an attractive safety and tolerability profile, pleiotropic metabolic benefits, and convenient Q2W dosing offered “a strong competitor” to Akero’s efruxifermin. In June, Evercore ISI analyst Liisa Bayko initiated coverage of 89bio with an Outperform rating and $49 price target, noting at that time that 89bio traded at a 60% discount to peer Akero Therapeutics, which has “a similar drug candidate in a similar stage of development.” In pre-market trading, Akero shares have fallen $28.44, or 59%, to $20.10 following the efruxifermin data.