Shares of Instil Bio (TIL) gained nearly 30% on Friday morning after Baird boosted its price target on the stock to $180. The price target raise came a day after an analyst from a rival firm raised its own price target for the stock to $40.
WITH STOCK NEAR $60, BAIRD UPS TARGET TO $180: Baird on Friday raised the firm’s price target on Instil Bio to $180 from $32 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm said enthusiasm for the company’s PD-L1xVEGF bispecific antibody continues to grow. The firm has seen enthusiasm for the PD-1/L1xVEGF space following the positive results from Akeso (AKESF) and Summit’s (SMMT) ivonescimab and the release of ESMO abstracts from both ivonescimab and BNT327, which has moved Instil shares higher in sympathy, the analyst told investors in a research note. The firm believes shares of Instil remain undervalued despite the recent positive move in shares, suggesting room for further growth.
Based on the abstracts for a meeting to be hosted by ESMO, or the European Society for Medical Oncology, it appears the PD-1/L1xVEGF class should be applicable across a number of solid tumors, including notably positive data from first-line triple-negative breast cancer, and additional results in RCC, and head and neck, Baird said. Looking ahead to the ESMO event, the firm sees enthusiasm for this class continuing to build on the heels of data presentations at the conference.
H.C. WAINWRIGHT ALSO UPS TARGET: Baird’s price target increase comes a day after H.C. Wainwright raised its own price target for Instil Bio, to $40 from $25, while keeping a Buy rating on the shares. The firm said Instil competitor Summit Therapeutics’ full data from the Phase 3 study of ivonescimab in front-line non-small cell lung cancer raises its confidence in SYN-2510, given mechanistic similarities. Preclinical studies show SYN-2510 exerted stronger synergistic antitumor activities than the combination of a VEGF blocker and a PD-L1 antibody, the analyst told investors.
ELIMINATING U.K. WORKFORCE: In a regulatory filing last Friday, Instil announced that on September 1, its board of directors approved a restructuring plan to close what remains of its Manchester, U.K. operations, including eliminating its remaining U.K. workforce. The workforce reduction is expected to be substantially complete by the end of 2024. In connection with the plan, the company currently estimates that it will incur aggregate restructuring costs of up to $5.5M, including asset impairment charges of up to $2.2M, employee termination costs, including severance and other benefits of up to $2M, and contract termination costs of up to $1.3M.
PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, Instil Bio shares were up 27% to $58.78.