Shares of Instil Bio Inc (NASDAQ: TIL) flew on Thursday after New York’s financial firm H.C. Wainwright upped its share target price for the company from US$25 to US$40. This followed the firm raising the target from US$18 to US$25 in August.
Instil’s increasing value on the Nasdaq can also be attributed to a licensing deal with China’s ImmuneOnco Biopharmaceuticals Shanghi Inc (HKG: 1541) initiated last month.
H.C. Wainwright’s prediction is significantly linked to this development. It provides Instil Bio with development and commercialization rights to a pair of cancer therapy drugs: IMM2510 and IMM27M. This enhances the company’s stature in the cancer treatment sector significantly.
“We reiterate our Buy rating and raise our 12-month price target to $40 from the prior $25 per share” an H.C. Wainwright analyst said.
Both drugs are intended to shrink tumours and are still being evaluated in clinical trials where they have shown promising potential. IMM2510, which has been studied more extensively, gets used in conjunction with chemotherapy.
Furthermore, news of Summit Therapeutics Inc’s (NASDAQ: SMMT) experimental lung cancer treatment Ivonescimab outperforming Merck & Co Inc’s (NYSE: MRK) Keytruda drug earlier this week is another contributing factor.
This is due to the similarities between IMM2510 and Ivonescimab.
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Instil to shut down UK operations
The biotech company outlined plans to close its Manchester operations in January. Instil’s Board of Directors then approved the closure scheme on Sept. 1. This process is expected to be wrapped up year-end.
Associated restructuring costs are expected to total approximately US$5.5 million.
“With the objective of saving costs and improving time efficiency, the company is announcing the closure of its UK manufacturing and clinical operations,” Instil said in a statement Jan. 16.
In July this year, Instil entered into a 15-year lease agreement with AstraZeneca plc (NASDAQ: AZN). It will see that AstraZeneca rents Instil’s facility in Tarzana, California for that duration. It will cost the major vaccine and drug manufacturer over US$7.5 million per annum.
This is another factor that has contributed to Instil’s rising share price.
As of the end of June, the company had cash and investments valued at over US$152 million and about US$82 million in debt.
rowan@mugglehead.com
