Jefferies & Company Raises ViroPharma (VPHM) Price Target To $18

Jefferies & Company analysts Thomas Wei, Shaunak Deepak and Thomas Nguyen rated shares of ViroPharma Incorporated (Nasdaq: VPHM) a Buy and raised the price target from $16 to $18.

The analysts said that there were a number of ways ViroPharma Incorporated would benefit from health care reform.

The five years of added exclusivity for ViroPharma's Cinryze alone was enough to add up to $1 per share to the current price target of $18.

ViroPharma would also profit from the removal of lifetime caps from insurance policies. Cinryze costs over $400,000 per year, so long term use can come up against current lifetime caps.

The Jefferies & Company analysts wrote, "while the passed Senate health care bill contains a loophole on lifetime caps, the reconciliation bill would close this loophole and eliminate lifetime caps for all current and new plans. The government estimates that 91m Americans are under plans with lifetime caps, typically $1-2m in expenses. A change in the lifetime cap policy would be a major benefit particularly to companies with high cost chronic drugs."