COWEN DOWNGRADES SAVIENT PHARMACEUTICALS
Cowen analyst Rachel McMinn says she is downgrading Savient Pharmaceuticals (SVNT) to underperform from outperform on her lack of conviction that Puricase will receive first-pass FDA approval, and her view that the market opportunity for Puricase is significantly smaller than current Street expectations.
McMinn believes high rates of cardiovascular adverse events, discontinuations due to infusion reactions, and anaphylaxis like reactions complicate the risk-reward profile of the drug, although admittedly the refractory patient population it aims to treat is extremely ill.
RBC CUTS TARGET FOR THORATEC
RBC analyst Ryan Bachman says Thoratec (THOR) initiated a "corrective action" for HeartMate II LVAS - overtime, wear and fatigue could interrupt pump function and result in injury or death.
After talking to management, Bachman believes the near-term financial impact is not so bad and the company recognizes revenue from replacement sales. He says the real commercial opportunity for HeartMate II lies in Destination Therapy (DT). The big question is what impact, if any, this will have on referring doctors who are gatekeepers of DT patient population; this uncertainty could weigh on share multiple.
He cut his price target to $18.
MERRILL UPGRADES DEVELOPERS DIVERSIFIED REALTY TO BUY FROM NEUTRAL
Merrill Lynch analyst Steve Sakwa says, unlike other over-leveraged real estate investment trusts, Developers Diversified Realty (DDR) is taking a number of steps to reduce its leverage, including a 45% cut in its 2009 dividend; acceleration of asset sales and joint-ventures; curtailment of new development activity.
Sakwa ways these steps should help repay maturing debt in late 2008 and 2009 and fund any remaining development.
Despite the upgrade, he cuts estimates and price target due to some changes to his model. He lowers $3.90 2008 estimate to $3.24, and $4.10 for 2009 to $2.93; $18 target is cut to $14.