ZLAB - NovoCure downgraded by Wedbush; doubts acceleration of lung cancer trial

Yesterday, NovoCure ([[NVCR]] -5.2%) and its partner Zai Lab ([[ZLAB]] +2.7%) announced that a data monitoring committee (“DMC”) has recommended a reduced duration and sample size for its Phase 3 trial for Tumor Trial Fields (“TTF”) treatment in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Sizing up the decision, Wedbush has downgraded the stock to underperform from neutral. However, the analysts David Nierengarten and Matthew Barcus have raised the price target of the stock to $159.00 from $154.00 apiece implying ~19.4% upside to the previous close.The analysis by DMC included data from 210 patients up to February 2021, the company said in the announcement. DMC has raised the ethical issues with the targeted accrual of 534 patients noting that it was unnecessary.Wedbush analysts argue that after four years of enrollment ‘we would expect around 75% of events to have occurred,’ citing a median survival time of fewer than 12 months in the second-line setting

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NovoCure downgraded by Wedbush; doubts acceleration of lung cancer trial