ARS Pharmaceuticals: Buy Rating Reaffirmed on Improved Competitive Outlook After Aquestive’s Anaphylm Setback

William Blair analyst Lachlan Hanbury Brown has maintained their bullish stance on SPRY stock, giving a Buy rating today.

Lachlan Hanbury Brown has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors tied to recent competitive and regulatory developments in the needle-free epinephrine market. He interprets the FDA’s identification of deficiencies in Aquestive’s Anaphylm filing as strongly signaling a likely complete response letter and, therefore, a setback or delay for that product. In his view, this materially reduces the risk of Anaphylm emerging as a near-term rival to ARS Pharmaceuticals’ neffy, which had been weighing on investor sentiment. With Anaphylm likely pushed back, neffy effectively stands as the only needle-free epinephrine option in the market for now, allowing ARS a clearer runway to build physician and patient awareness, gain share, and solidify its positioning.

Brown also notes that the market’s immediate reaction—Aquestive’s shares dropping sharply while ARS’s shares moved notably higher—supports the thesis that the competitive overhang has eased. He emphasizes that although the FDA has not yet issued a final decision on Anaphylm and the precise nature of the deficiencies remains unclear, the balance of probabilities points toward an unfavorable near-term outcome for that competitor. Against this backdrop, he sees ARS as better positioned to capitalize on the expanding needle-free epinephrine segment without immediate pressure from a similarly targeted alternative. This improved competitive landscape underpins his conviction that ARS shares offer attractive upside potential, justifying his Buy recommendation on the stock.

Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 28 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders selling their shares of SPRY in relation to earlier this year.