Merrimack Pharma Could Have FDA Approval Coming; These Analysts Are Buying

• Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACK) has seen a 20.88 percent decline in its share price over the last six months, from a high of $13.67 on April 23.
• Brean Capital’s Jonathan Aschoff has maintained a Buy rating on the company, with a price target of $16.
• Aschoff believes that the company is well positioned to receive PDUFA approval for MM-398 in the treatment of post-gemcitabine pancreatic cancer, with the EU approval expected in 2Q16.

The company had reported earlier that the FDA’s inspection of its manufacturing site had been successful.

Analyst Jonathan Aschoff does not believe that there is time for an ODAC panel before the PDUFA date of October 24, saying that he saw no reason “for a well understood active agent such as irinotecan to elicit a panel, despite the novel delivery vehicle.”

Aschoff also mentioned that the most comparable drug to MM-398 is Abraxane, which was approved with “worse pancreatic cancer data.”

With regard to the EU approval of the drug, the Brean Capital report stated that “the ESMO treatment guidelines already include MM-398, clearly supporting its use in second line pancreatic cancer once approved, many months ahead of our projected EU approval, which speaks to the dire need for new alternatives in pancreatic cancer.”

In addition, Aschoff believes that inclusion in the European guideline would bode well for the FDA approval.