UPDATE: Aegis Capital Reiterates on Synergy Pharmaceuticals on Approaching Clinical Catalysts

In a report published Wednesday, Aegis Capital analyst Raghuram Selvaraju reiterated a Buy rating and $23.00 price target on Synergy Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SGYP).

In the report, Aegis Capital noted, “Yesterday, Synergy Pharmaceuticals reported results for 3Q 2013. The firm lost $0.15 per share vs. our expectation of a loss of $0.17 per share on lower-than-projected R&D spending of $10.8mm vs. our original estimate of $12mm and substantially lower G&A spending of only $2.7mm vs. our estimate of $3.5mm. We note that Synergy is slated to begin two Phase 3 trials of plecanatide in CIC near-term. The first could initiate enrollment before the end of the year, with the second following closely behind. We expect both of these pivotal trials to report data in 2H 2014. Further, the company is slated to report top-line data from a 350-patient trial of plecanatide in irritable bowel syndrome of the constipation-predominant subtype (IBS-C) in late February / early March 2014. The firm closed 3Q 2013 with $82mm in cash, which we expect to be sufficient to fund operations into the second half of 2014. We reiterate our Buy rating and 12-month price target of $23.00 per share on SGYP.”

Synergy Pharmaceuticals closed on Tuesday at $4.07