Dice Therapeutics initiated with a Buy at Needham

Needham initiated coverage of Dice Therapeutics with a Buy rating and $56 price target. Dice is a clinical-stage biotech developing oral therapeutics against "well-validated" immunology targets with the goal of delivering comparable efficacy to commercially established biologics for various immune-related diseases, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes Dice offers a "rare pure-play opportunity" to invest in an area of significant takeover interest for large pharma.