Wave Life Sciences (WVE) stock sank on Wednesday after the biotechnology company provided updated results from its ongoing Phase 1b/2a RestorAATion-2 study. This trial is evaluating the effectiveness of WVE-006 as a treatment for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD). AATD is a genetic disorder that affects the production of a protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin, which is essential to protect the lungs from damage caused by enzymes that are released via inflammation.
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Wave Life Sciences reported statistically significant positive results from its WVE-006 study. All treated patients achieved RNA editing, which resulted in durable production of serum AAT. This resulted in levels high enough to lower the risk of liver and lung disease following repeat 200 mg doses.
Paul Bolno, MD, MBA, President and CEO of Wave Life Sciences, said, “Today’s update reinforces the strength of our platform as we continue to advance additional wholly owned editing programs toward the clinic. We look forward to sharing more about these at our Research Day this fall.”
Wave Life Sciences Stock Movement Today
Wave Life Sciences stock was down 22.14% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, following a slight gain yesterday. The shares have also fallen 22.23% year-to-date, but remain up 87.89% over the past 12 months.
While the clinical trial results reported by Wave Life Sciences were positive, investors appeared unimpressed. That’s despite exclusive global licensing rights for WVE-006 being held by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), with potential milestone payments of up to $525 million.
Is Wave Life Sciences Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, the analysts’ consensus rating for Wave Life Sciences is Strong Buy, based on 11 Buy and a single Hold rating over the past three months. With that comes an average WVE stock price target of $18.09, representing a potential 88.05% upside for the shares.
