BofA Maintains Buy Rating on Merus (MRUS), Lifts PT

On Friday, BofA increased its price target for Merus (NASDAQ:MRUS) to $92 from $70, while maintaining a Buy rating on the stock.

The decision follows Merus’ highly favorable Phase 2 trial results for the combination of petosemtamab and pembrolizumab in treating first-line head and neck squamous cell carcinoma/HNSCC. The trial achieved a 12-month objective survival rate of 79% in its full cohort.

The survival rate surpasses historical benchmarks for pembrolizumab monotherapy, which typically range from 50% to 59% in the same patient population. It also well exceeds the 50%-60% range that BofA’s medical checks had indicated would constitute good data. BofA believes that the data positions the peto + pembr combination as a potentially best-in-class treatment option for patients with HNSCC.

The promising interim data from the Phase 2 trial, revealed at the ASCO Annual Meeting, showed a 63% overall response rate among 43 evaluable patients, which included 6 complete responses and 21 partial responses. The median progression-free survival was 9 months, and responses were observed across various PD-L1 levels, with 14 responding patients still on treatment at the data cutoff.

Merus is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company that primarily develops antibody therapeutics in the Netherlands.

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This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.