PRTA - Prothena initiated at overweight at Piper Sandler on antibody platform pipeline

• Piper Sandler has initiated Prothena Corp. ( NASDAQ: PRTA ) with an overweight rating saying that the biotech's platform used to discover antibody therapies and its pipeline will provide share moving catalysts.
• The firm has a $94 price target (68% upside based on Thursday's close).
• Analyst Yasmeen Rahimi noted that Prothena has candidates in development that address large markets, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and rare disease, including AL and ATTR amyloidosis.
• Rehimi said that the company's platform has garnered partnerships with Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) with NNC6019/PRX004 for ATTR, Roche with prasinezumab for Parkinson's, and Bristol-Myers Squibb with PRX005 for Alzheimer's. These arrangements validate the platform and also provide "multi-billion-dollar cash influx over the near and long term."
• She added that the company has three potential blockbuster Alzheimer's treatments with PRX012 (phase 1), PRX005 (phase 1) and PR123 (preclinical).
• Read why Seeking Alpha contributor Edmund Ingham, who rates Prothena ( PRTA ) a hold, says that catalysts for the three Alzheimer's candidates will likely dictate stock performance this year .

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