Tesaro Drops After Zejula Pricing, Competing PARPi Trial Miss

The shares of drug maker Tesaro (TSRO) are falling with two possible headwinds cited by analysts as the potential culprit, namely the pricing of its niraparib treatment and the disappointing trial results of another drug in the same therapeutic space.

PRICING: Last night, Tesaro announced that Zejula, its oral, once-daily poly polymerase inhibitor, is now available by prescription in the U.S. with a Wholesale Acquisition Cost of $9,833 for a one-month supply at a dose of 200 milligrams once per day. The approved starting dose of ZEJULA is 300 milligrams once per day, but 200 milligrams/day was the most commonly administered dose over the course of the Phase 3 NOVA clinical trial, Tesaro noted in its announcement.

ABBVIE TRIAL: Additionally, AbbVie (ABBV) reported that its own PARP inhibitor cancer treatment, veliparib, failed to meet its primary endpoints in two Phase III trials involving squamous non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, and triple negative breast cancer patients. The primary endpoint for the NSCLC patients was improvement in overall survival, while the primary endpoint for the breast cancer patients was “complete pathological response.” Veliparib was combined with chemotherapy for the study.

PRICING REACTIONS: Citi analyst Robyn Karnauskas lowered her price target for Tesaro to $216 to reflect the pricing of Zejula. After speaking to management, the analyst expects the net price to be around $9,000, lower than her $10,000 estimate. The price, however, could position the company well for a good launch and future competition, Karnauskas tells investors in a research note. She keeps a Buy rating on Tesaro. Leerink analyst Seamus Fernandez also lowered his price target for Tesaro, to $158 from $186, noting that Zejula’s pricing of $14,750/month represents a 7% premium to Clovis’ (CLVS) Rubraca, but he estimates an average pricing of $10,350/month given the frequency of dose reductions. Fernandez reiterates a Market Perform rating on the shares.