89bio price target lowered to $29 from $49 at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI lowered the firm’s price target on 89bio (ETNB) to $29 from $49 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares after having debriefed with 89bio management on rival Akero Therapeutics’ (AKRO) SYMMETRY trial data. 89bio management thinks the data shows that Akero’s drug is active in cirrhotics and could show fibrosis improvement at 96 weeks based on its impact on NASH resolution and other biomarkers, the analyst tells investors. However, across the firm’s NASH coverage, Evercore has adjusted its expectations for the market to be flat to account for the impact of obesity medications on the NASH market and for 89bio specifically the firm is pushing out its expectations for launch of pegozafermin by one year, now to 2029 and 2030, in the U.S. and EU, respectively.