Allogene Therapeutics price target lowered to $9 from $11 at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler analyst Biren Amin lowered the firm’s price target on Allogene Therapeutics (ALLO) to $9 from $11 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm notes Allogene announced the discontinuation of enrollment in the phase 1 cohort of ALPHA2 due to a slower than expected enrollment rate. The program had enrollment challenges as evident by moving timelines by a quarter when announced in Q2 earnings in August due to prioritization of the ALPHA3 trial. Piper had expected for cemacel to have a good probability of success, if not better than Breyanzi, due to its allogeneic approach which would address issues with auto CAR T in CLL, i.e. CLL patients’ cells are more exhausted.