MGTA - Magenta cut to Neutral at Wedbush as leukemia trial comes to a halt

• Magenta Therapeutics ( NASDAQ: MGTA ) lost ~11% Thursday as Wedbush downgraded the clinical-stage biotech citing its decision to pause Phase 1/2 dose-escalation trial for blood cancer therapy MGTA-117.
• The trial involving patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) indicated a Grade 5 serious adverse event (SAE) potentially linked to MGTA-117, the company said as the reason for its decision.
• The SAE was detected in the latest participant dosed at the Cohort 3 level (0.08 mg/kg), which according to Wedbush analyst David Nierengarten is the third dose level the company tested.
• "Without the ability to reliably dose to a level that provides sufficient activity, we do not see a clear way forward for the program," the analyst wrote, downgrading Magenta ( MGTA ) to Neutral from Outperform and slashing its price target to $1 from $3 per share.
• Nierengarten raises the risk attributed to MGTA-117 program and moves to the sidelines regarding the company stock as its management weighs the path forward for the candidate.
• Wall Street has remained bullish on Magenta ( MGTA ) stock, with an average rating of Strong Buy from analysts, while Seeking Alpha's Quant System, which consistently beats the market, rated MGTA as a Strong Sell.

For further details see: