Kura selling off on loss of acquisition premium, says TD Cowen

TD Cowen keeps a Buy rating on Kura Oncology (KURA) without a price target following the company’s collaboration with Kyowa Kirin on its lead asset ziftomenib. Kura shares are trading lower on the loss of an acquisition premium as investors conclude a sale of Kura to a strategic acquirer who is not Kyowa is now less likely given Kyowa’s ownership of 50% of the asset in the U.S. and a majority outside the U.S., the analyst tells investors in a research note. In addition, TD had assumed Kura would develop and commercialize zifotmenib on its own in the U.S. until it was bought by a larger biopharma company. Shares of Kura are down 22% to $12.40 in premarket trading.