Assembly Biosciences upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies

Jefferies upgraded Assembly Biosciences to Buy from Hold with a price target of $35, up from $2. The upcoming Phase IA data for the company’s long acting oral for recurrent genital herpes should support once weekly dosing with good safety, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says the mechanism is already “derisked” by pritelivir, which showed positive data versus standard of care for genital herpes but was discontinued due to toxicity. Assembly is more potent and safety is unlikely to be an issue, contends Jefferies.