Expect Merrimack Pharma Shares To Be Range-Bound For The Near Term

The sales ramp-up of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc’s (NASDAQ: MACK) lead compound, ONIVYDE, is expected to be gradual in the current indication, BTIG’s Ling Wang said in a report. He reinitiated coverage of the company with a Neutral rating.

Slow Sales Ramp

ONIVYDE was approved in post-gemcitabine metastatic pancreatic cancer in the US. Although ONIVYDE could potentially result in a paradigm shift and has significant expansion opportunities, sales in the current indication could ramp up gradually in the first three quarters, analyst Wang mentioned.

“In our view, it will take time and a significant marketing effort to establish ONIVYDE as the standard of care, replacing multiple available treatments (not approved) currently used by oncologists,” Wang wrote.

MM-302 And MM-121 Prospects

MM-302 is in pivotal Phase II trial in breast cancer and data so far suggests a good success rate. MM-121 addresses a large unmet demand. “A potentially pivotal Phase II trial of MM-121 in heregulin positive NSCLC expects data in 2018…but the Phase II outcome (survival as the primary endpoint) is somewhat hard to predict given the lack of survival data from the prior trial in NSCLC,” the analyst commented.

Although Merrimack Pharma’s fundamentals are strong, MM-302 and MM-121 will be available only in 2017 or beyond, and the company’s shares could be range-bound in the near term.

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