2023-03-16 10:24:02 ET
Kezar Life Sciences ( NASDAQ: KZR ) lost ~14% on Thursday morning after William Blair downgraded the clinical-stage biotech to Market Perform from Outperform following management comments at the company’s R&D event yesterday.
The analyst Matt Phipps attributed his decision to a lack of near-term catalysts for Kezar’s ( KZR ) lead candidate, zetomipzomib, targeted at multiple chronic immune-mediated diseases, including lupus nephritis.
The company is studying zetomipzomib in mid-stage trials for active lupus nephritis and autoimmune hepatitis called PALIZADE and PORTOLA, respectively.
Phipps notes that the company guided the PALIZADE data to mid-2026 and PORTOLA data to mid-2025, “which leave a gap in zeto clinical catalysts that we believe will limit share price upside in the near term.”
However, the analyst remains positive on PALIZADE data and cites zetomipzomib’s potential in LN, given a previous readout for the candidate from the company’s previously completed mid-stage MISSION trial.
Seeking Alpha contributor, Zach Bristow downgraded Kezar ( KZR ) in November after the company released the full data set from the MISSION trial.
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Kezar sheds 14% after R&D event as William Blair downgrades