Oppenheimer remains bullish on Olema despite ‘Jekyll and Hyde kinda ESMO’

Oppenheimer analyst Matthew Biegler notes Olema Pharmaceuticals (OLMA) delivered stellar second-line data in combination with ribociclib at ESMO, though that may be overshadowed in Monday’s trading by Roche’s (RHHBY) Phase 3 evERA results – which missed the buy-side’s mark. Despite the hype from Roche’s IR, the trial failed to show a real benefit in ESR1 wild-type patients – which adds risk to Roche’s front-line trial and by way Olema’s OPERA-02 trial. Lost in everything is the fact that Olema’s palazestrant is a wonderful drug, Oppenheimer argues, adding that it believes it “just needs to find its place.” If frontline isn’t the answer, the company could always pivot OPERA-02 into the second line, where the ribociclib combination data compliments EMBER-3 and post-MONARCH, the firm adds. Oppenheimer reiterates an Outperform rating on Olema, which is down almost 28% in premarket trading.