Ascendis Pharma price target raised to $212 from $181 at Wedbush

Wedbush raised the firm’s price target on Ascendis Pharma (ASND) to $212 from $181 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm notes Yorvipath’s Q1 revenue of EUR44.7M exceeded consensus of EUR31.1M, and over 1,750 prescriptions written by more than 1,000 unique prescribers as of March 31 nearly doubled from only seven weeks ago. The 4-8 weeks needed for insurance approval are unchanged from last update, but management reported an increase in favorable policies and cases of successful coverage through alternative routes, which management attributes to Yorvipath being the only available therapy for a rare disease with strong unmet medical need, and compelling clinical benefit being well perceived by patients, clinicians, and payers.