H.C. Wainwright upgrades Fulcrum to Buy on sickle cell data

H.C. Wainwright upgraded Fulcrum Therapeutics (FULC) to Buy from Neutral with a price target of $12, up from $4. The stock in late morning trading is down 5% to $7.40. Data from Fulcrum’s PIONEER Phase 1b trial represent a “clinically meaningful inflection” for pociredir in sickle cell disease, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says the increase in fetal hemoglobin and improvements in key hematologic and hemolytic parameters are validation of pociredir’s ability to recapitulate the protective biology observed in hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin. It believes this morning’s update “meaningfully de-risks the program.”