Leerink sees weakness in Viridian Therapeutics shares as ‘overdone’

Leerink analyst Thomas Smith notes Viridian Therapeutics’ (VRDN) shares are under pressure following topline results from Amgen’s (AMGN) Phase 3 trial of SC Tepezza utilizing an on-body injector for the treatment of thyroid eye disease. While details were limited in the topline release, Tepezza met the study’s primary endpoint with a 77% absolute proptosis response rate at week 24, and a safety profile “generally consistent” with the known IV clinical experience. The firm believes the topline results are “unsurprisingly” positive, but says it continues to view Amgen’s OBI as a sub-optimal product offering in TED relative to the convenience of an SC autoinjector such as Viridian’s elegrobart. Overall, Leerink believes the weakness in Viridian’s shares is overdone. The firm reiterates an Outperform rating on Viridian shares.