BridgeBio Pharma scored a "best-case scenario" for its heart-disease drug on Monday and BBIO stock catapulted into a breakout while pulling shares of rival Alnylam Pharmaceuticals higher.
The company tested its drug, dubbed acoramidis, in patients with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, a leading cause of heart failure. In this disease, abnormal protein builds up on the heart.
BridgeBio's drug attempts to stabilize transthyretin, a mutated protein at the center of the disease. After 30 months, 81% of acoramidis patients were still alive vs. just 74% of placebo recipients.
Further, acoramidis led to a 50% reduction in the risk of hospitalization for cardiovascular-related problems. And, patients who received acoramidis treatment showed a significant improvement in how far they could walk for six minutes, a measure of disease severity.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Luca Issi says the results confirm the benefits of stabilizing transthyretin in this disease.
"We think this bodes well for other companies in the space," he said in a note to clients.
While BBIO stock rocketed 75.9% to close at 32.04, Alnylam shares jumped 2.9% to 202.83. Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, which also is working to treat the same disease dipped a fraction to 42.20 on today's stock market.
BBIO Stock: Revenue Is 12 To 18 Months Out
Pfizer already treats transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy with its drug, Vyndamax. Last year, the drug brought in $2.45 billion in sales, growing 21% on a strict, as-reported basis.
Mizuho Securities analyst Salim Syed says Vyndamax is only a fraction penetrated into the market. He says BridgeBio could eventually tack on $2 billion in sales from this market.
"Importantly, the BridgeBio story should now pivot to a commercial and/or platform one from an investor dialogue perspective," he said in a note. "We'd anticipate new constructive positions being formed now that we're past the large binary in the story and that commercial revenue is now likely only 12-18 months away."
He has a buy rating and 29 price target on BBIO stock.
Notably, shares also have a strong IBD Digital Relative Strength Rating of 97. This means BridgeBio stock ranks in the leading 3% of all stocks when it comes to 12-month performance.
BBIO stock broke out of a consolidation with a buy point at 19.95, according to MarketSmith.com.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
