Astellas CRL ‘clearly a positive’ for Apellis, says JPMorgan

JPMorgan says Astellas Pharma’s (ALPMY) (ALMPY) announcement that the FDA has issued a Complete Response Letter regarding for Izervay in geographic atrophy is “clearly a positive” for Apellis’ (APLS) Syfovre. Unless Astellas is able to work with the FDA to reverse this decision in the future, every other month dosing will not be part of the Izervay label, and recommended Izervay dosing is still limited to 12 months, the analyst tells investors in a research note. JPMorgan notes the Syfovre label includes every other month dosing along with no dosing duration. The distinctive product label advantages for Syfovre “is now another lever that Apellis can detail to physicians,” contends the firm. It sees Apellis shares as “conservatively valued” into the mid-$40s. The stock in premarket trading is up 3% to $26.99. JPMorgan reiterates an Overweight rating on Apellis based on the long-term potential of Syfovre and Empaveli.