Q32 Bio price target lowered to $20 from $85 at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler analyst Christopher Raymond lowered the firm’s price target on Q32 Bio (QTTB) to $20 from $85 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares following messy Phase 2a readouts for bempikibart in both atopic dermatitis and alopecia areata. In Part B of the SIGNAL-AD trial, there was no difference between treatment and placebo on EASI score reduction due to an abnormally high placebo rate, and Q32 Bio is halting all further development activities in this indication. For AA, efficacy data were underwhelming compared to approved JAKi’s, and although the company has a plan to try and boost efficacy, Piper thinks the risk here is high and is taking this out of its model for now. This leaves differentiated complement inhibitor ADX-097 as the sole value driver in our model, and the firm looks to preliminary data from the Phase 2 renal basket trial in the first half of 2025 to establish the future value of this name.