By Sam Boughedda
Shares of Viridian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VRDN) jumped Wednesday on the back of news on Tuesday evening that Horizon Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HZNP) is in "highly preliminary discussions" with three large pharmaceutical companies.
Horizon Therapeutics shares are up more than 27% during Wednesday's session, while Viridian Therapeutics has also reacted to the news, currently up over 13%.
Within Horizon's portfolio of FDA-approved drugs is a thyroid eye disease, or TED treatment called Tepezza. However, Viridian also has lead product candidates being developed to treat TED.
Following the news and share price reactions, SVB Securities analysts said: "On the heels of HZNP's (OP, Risinger) disclosure that they have engaged in preliminary discussions with multiple large pharma companies regarding a potential acquisition offer (here), we see positive read through to VRDN (OP), which is pursuing a multi-pronged, fast-follower strategy to HZNP's blockbuster Tepezza via their pipeline of IGF-1R antibodies in patients with thyroid eye disease (TED)."
"Overall, we see takeover interest in HZNP as validating strategic interest and value in TED that should have positive readthrough to VRDN's IGF-1R programs. On the back of this validation and with shares trading at a significant discount to HZNP, we see compelling value in the VRDN platform likely to be unlocked by further clinical data de-risking and increasing perception of strategic optionality," the analysts added.
Elsewhere, B Riley Securities analysts explained that their firm believes Viridian shares "look like a bargain."
"Now that Horizon's potential acquisition talks are underway, we would not be surprised if big pharma picks Viridian as a follow-up takeout candidate given that Viridian has already pushed VRDN-001 into a pivotal study," the analysts said. "Viridian continues to appear attractively priced simply on a fundamental/DCF valuation basis."