PepGen Stock More Than Doubles On Thursday – Check Out The New Price Targets On Wall Street

Shares of PepGen (PEPG) more than doubled on Thursday morning after multiple analysts raised their price targets on the stock following the release of positive clinical data from an early-stage study in patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1.

Wedbush raised its price target on PepGen to $9 from $7 and kept an ‘Outperform’ rating on the shares, while H.C. Wainwright hiked its price target on the stock to $12 from $8.

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a progressive disorder that primarily affects skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle. It is estimated to affect about 40,000 patients in the U.S.

The company announced on Wednesday that a 53.7% mean splicing correction was observed in DM1 patients following a single 15 mg/kg dose of its PGN-EDODM1, which is higher than any previously reported splicing correction in DM1 patients. All patients who received the dose in the trial showed an improvement in splicing correction, the company noted.

“Since mis-splicing is the underlying cause of DM1, we believe high levels of splicing correction have the potential to reverse the underlying molecular defects, and produce functional improvements in multiple outcome measures, including myotonia and muscle weakness, in repeat dose studies,” said Paul Streck, Executive Vice President of Research and Development at PepGen.

The company previously reported mean splicing correction of 12.3% and 29.1%, respectively, with 5mg/kg and 10mg/kg doses of PGN-EDODM1.

The investigational candidate was well-tolerated at a dose of 15 mg/kg, and no serious treatment-related adverse events were identified, the company stated. However, one patient had to receive oral antihistamines for treatment-related adverse events, it said.

PepGen's nearly 54% correction sets a new benchmark and "strongly suggests that repeat dosing could yield clinically meaningful functional benefit," contends H.C. Wainwright.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around PEPG stock rose from 'neutral' to 'extremely bullish' territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume stayed at 'extremely high' levels. 

PEPG stock is up 51% this year but down approximately 34% over the past 12 months. 

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