UPDATE: MLV Initiates Buy, $6 PT on Avanir Pharmaceutical

MLV initiates coverage of Avanir Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AVNR) with a Buy rating and a $6 price target as it views the company as a pure-play, execution-focused CNS.

MLV says, "NUEDEXTA® has given AVNR ‘foot-in-the-door' status amongst commercial CNS players, in our opinion. In 4Q:11, prescriptions exceeded 10,000, which is a great start. Despite the aggressive commercial efforts, we need to see an acceleration of prescription growth and expansion of the current label. With a meaningful uptick in NUEDEXTA revenues, AVNR could indeed become a dominant CNS player. We would be buyers given the lack of alternatives and increasingly favorable reimbursement landscape."

AVNR closed at $2.87 per share on Thursday.