UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Downgrades ISIS Pharmaceuticals on Limited Ownership of Pipeline

In a report published Tuesday, Piper Jaffray analyst Edward Tenthoff downgraded ISIS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ISIS) from Neutral to Underweight, but at the same time raised the price target from $12 to $20.

In the report, Piper Jaffray stated, “Isis is currently valued at a market cap of $3.5 billion. Despite recent clinical success validating the use of antisense technology, we cannot justify the current valuation based on Isis's limited ownership of the majority of its pipeline. We are thus downgrading Isis to Underweight from Neutral with a $20 price target. The biggest risk to our Underweight rating is positive ISIS-CRP Rx and/or additional ISIS-SMN Rx data, as wid ell as new partnerships."

ISIS Pharmaceuticals closed on Monday at $30.06