Jasper concerns driven by Celldex data ‘overdone,’ says Stifel

Stifel notes that Jasper Therapeutics (JSPR) competitor Celldex (CLDX) disclosed updated 52 week data for barzolvolimab in chronic spontaneous urticaria, or CSU, which demonstrated symptom control, with the proportion of complete responses increasing over time. However, the data also revealed a “fairly high” discontinuation rate of about 25% and seem to suggest that a barzolvolimab’s Q4W dosing schedule is better than Q8W, which the firm thinks is driving weakness in Jasper shares. However, Stifel’s takeaways are that cKIT inhibition “works really well in CSU,” and continual cKIT inhibition comes with toxicity that increases over time. For Jasper, limiting toxicity may be key to developing a competitive cKIT inhibitor, which the firm sees supporting the company’s approach with briquilimab since it believes a Q8W or Q12W dosing regimen would spare KIT-related toxicity for the latter part of the dosing interval given briq’s shorter half-life. The firm, which remains “bullish” into briq data due in Q4, has a Buy rating and $80 price target on Jasper shares.