Goldman says PAH opportunity now incrementally more attractive for Gossamer Bio

Goldman Sachs notes Gossamer Bio’s (GOSS) shares are outperforming on Monday after Aerovate Therapeutics (AVTE) announced 24-week topline results from the Phase 2b portion of its IMPAHCT study of AV-101 in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH. Neither an improvement in PVR nor in the 6-minute walk test was seen with treatment with AV-101 vs. placebo, which resulted in missing both the primary and secondary endpoints of the trial. The firm recalls that AV-101 has a similar and related mechanism of action as Gossamer’s seralutinib, which is currently enrolling its Phase 3 PROSERA study after a positive result in the Phase 2 TORREY trial supported by longer term OLE data. However, tolerability has historically been an issue with imatinib, and Goldman looks for detailed results from IMPAHCT at a medical meeting later this year. Overall, the firm remains constructive on Gossamer’s seralutinib in PAH, and views this latest negative development as underscoring the asset’s differentiated clinical profile despite a similar underlying mechanism. The firm has a Buy rating on Gossamer’s shares with a price target of $8.