RXDX - Prometheus Biosciences gains as Goldman Sachs starts coverage with buy rating

Shares of Prometheus Biosciences ( NASDAQ: RXDX ) rose as much as 11.3% to $34.23 in Wednesday trading after Goldman Sachs initiated the company with a buy rating.

Goldman Sachs analyst Chris Shibutani gave RXDX stock a price target of $51, implying a 65.8% upside to RXDX's last closing price of $30.76.

San Diego, Calif.-based Prometheus ( RXDX ) is a clinical-stage biotech company developing precision medicines for the treatment of gastrointestinal and autoimmune diseases.

The company's lead product candidate is monoclonal antibody PRA023 which is being evaluated for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and an inflammatory lung disease known as SSc-ILD.

"We view Prometheus Biosciences ( RXDX ) as uniquely positioned to bring precision medicine to ( IBD ) and capture significant market share with their companion diagnostic approach leveraging a proprietary bioinformatics database and development platform," said Shibutani.

RXDX's PRA023 product candidate is currently in phase 2 trials. Prometheus ( RXDX ) in Dec. last year said its early-stage study with PRA023 met its main goal.

"We believe there is significant value from PRA023 in IBD indications, and see upside potential expanding into SSc-ILD, as well as the company's ability to leverage their platform to develop novel agents and diagnostics to address additional patient populations," said Shibutani.

Goldman Sachs' buy rating on RXDX compares to a Wall Street average rating of strong buy and a Quant rating of hold.

For further details see: