Shares of Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT) – Get Report slipped Friday after Goldman Sachs downgraded the biotech firm to sell from neutral and lowered its price target to $10 from $17.
Shares of the New York company at last check fell 6.8% to $12.90.
Goldman analyst Salveen Richter, in a note published Friday, cited “ongoing uncertainty and lack of near-term, value-driving catalysts” as the reasons behind the downgrade, according to a Bloomberg report.
The regulatory path for Ocaliva as a treatment for fatty liver driven disease, or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, “remains uncertain,” she added. Ocaliva is FDA-approved for primary biliary cholangitis. The market for the drug for the steatohepatitis is potentially much more lucrative, the analyst said.
Intercept Pharma expects third-quarter sales to be hurt after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked the company to add new safety signals and comprehensive prescribing information, the analyst said.
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Intercept made the changes in May 2021.
“These new updates to the Ocaliva Prescribing Information include important additional warnings and precautions to help health care professionals identify patients with PBC and cirrhosis who may be at risk of experiencing liver-related side effects and manage their liver health.
“They do not change Ocaliva treatment guidance for the large majority of people living with PBC, as most patients with PBC do not have decompensated cirrhosis, a prior decompensation event, or compensated cirrhosis with evidence of portal hypertension,” the company had said in an earlier statement.
Among the analysts, Intercept has five buy ratings, 12 holds and 2 sells according to Bloomberg data.
