Sage Therapeutics downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital

RBC Capital downgraded Sage Therapeutics to Sector Perform from Outperform with a price target of $4, down from $10. The firm sees a low likelihood that dalzanemdor will show clear, clinically meaningful effects in Huntington’s or Alzheimer’s in its year-end Phase II readouts. Without success for the program, profitability will be difficult to achieve for Sage until the “very long term” and would require significant changes to the company’s cost structure, even if Zurzuvae remains on its current reasonable initial launch trajectory, the analyst tells investors in a research note. As such, RBC believes the shares are more likely to underperform the group.