PDS Biotechnology price target lowered to $7 from $9 at B. Riley

B. Riley lowered the firm’s price target on PDS Biotechnology (PDSB) to $7 from $9 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The Q3 earnings update included a development plan revision for the registration-enabling Phase III VERSATILE-003 trial in HPV16-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, with a sample size reduction from about 440 to roughly 350 patients while maintaining statistical power on the overall survival primary efficacy endpoint, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Management also acknowledged the potential impact of recent FDA approval of Keytruda in adjuvant and neoadjuvant HNSCC to be factored in this development plan revision, including via a recently commissioned survey of more than 50 oncologists treating HNSCC patients, the firm adds.