Vertex Treatment May Have High Risk of Failure, Analyst Suggests

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: VRTX) recent results from a prospective cystic fibrosis treatment suggests the product has a high risk of failure, an analyst said Tuesday.

Maxim Group's Jason Kolbert maintained a Hold rating on Vertex with a $121 target.

Vertex is off 5 percent since reporting the results Monday. The company traded recently at $125.16, down 0.5 percent on the day.

Kolbert said results of the Phase II study of Vertex's VX-661 drug in combination with its ivacaftor drug were "disappointing."

Patients suffering from cystic fibrosis inherit mutated genes from each parent, with the mutations either "homozygous," the same, or "heterozygous," different.

The two classifications create subgroups for treatment, and Kolbert said success for Vertex must encompass both sets of patients.

Kolbert said the recent study suggests that the risk of failure in the heterozygous population is high."

The company said lung function improved 4.4 percent among patients in the homozygote population after four weeks of treatment, but gains fell to 3 percent after 12 weeks.

"There are more variables in the heterozygous population," Kolbert said.

Some investors had reportedly hoped for lung function gains 6 percent.