Vaxcyte ‘narrow’ misses in Phase 2 likely to be ok in Phase 3, says Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI notes that Vaxcyte (PCVX) missed four serotypes versus Prevnar20 in the “all-important” infant data, adding that an “imperfect vaccine press release on the heels of Peter Marks resignation is just tough timing.” However, the analyst contends that three of the four misses in today’s Phase 2 are “narrow – and will quite likely be ok” in a larger Phase 3 trial. The firm maintains an Outperform rating on Vaxcyte shares, which are down $34.89, or 50%, to $34.57 in early afternoon trading following the company having shared topline results from its Phase 2 dose-finding study evaluating the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of VAX-24, the company’s 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate designed to prevent invasive pneumococcal disease, compared to Prevnar 20 in healthy infants.