Biohaven (BHVN) Acquires Dual Inhibitor for Brain Disorders
Biohaven BHVN announced that it has acquired global license rights (excluding China regions) for BHV-8000 from Hangzhou Highlightll Pharmaceuticals for immune-mediated brain disorders.
BHV-8000 (previously TLL-041) is a highly selective, brain-penetrant, dual tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) and janus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitor.
Shares of Biohaven lost almost 6% on Mar 22 and plunged 88.6% in the past year compared with the industry’s 16.8% decline.
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The company plans to advance the agent into a phase I study in 2023.
With the help of the novel first-in-class dual inhibition of TYK2/JAK1, BHVN plans to target severe neurological disorders. BHV-8000 has demonstrated high selectivity over JAK2, JAK3 and other kinases, potentially offering improved safety over less selective or non-selective JAK inhibitors.
Biohaven and Highlightll will join forces for the clinical development of BHV-8000 across the world. Per the agreement, the latter will receive $10 million in upfront cash and $10 million worth of BHVN equity. It is also entitled to development and commercial milestone payments of up to $950 million and tiered royalty payments ranging from mid-single digit to lower teen percentages.
Adding the BHV-8000 candidate to BHVN’s pipeline will help grow the existing complementary neuro-immunomodulatory therapeutic approaches, including selective extracellular degraders (commonly referred to as LYTACs or MoDEs) against IgG, IgA and antigen-specific targets.
Biohavens’ under-development product candidates include Kv7 ion channel modulation for epilepsy and neuronal hyperexcitability, glutamate modulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder and spinocerebellar ataxia, and myostatin inhibition for neuromuscular diseases.
Biohaven Ltd. Price and Consensus
Biohaven Ltd. price-consensus-chart | Biohaven Ltd. Quote
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Biohaven has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the same sector are Kala Pharmaceuticals KALA, CRISPR Therapeutics CRSP and Jasper Therapeutics JSPR, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Loss per share estimates for Kala Pharmaceuticals have narrowed from $19.67 to $15.35 for 2023 and from $14.41 to $13.12 for 2024 in the past 60 days. KALA’s shares have plunged 81.4% in the past year.
KALA’s earnings beat estimates in two of the last four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, the average surprise being 11.56%.
CRISPR Therapeutics' 2023 loss per share estimates have narrowed from $8.21 to $7.54, in the past 60 days.
CRSP's earnings beat estimates in two of the last four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, the average surprise being 3.19%. CRSP’s shares have plunged 31.6% in the past year.
Loss per share estimates for Jasper Therapeutics have narrowed from $1.42 to 61 cents for 2023 and from $1.6 to 59 cents for 2024, in the past 60 days. JSPR’s shares have plunged 45.2% in the past year.
JSPR’s earnings beat estimates in three of the last four quarters and met the mark in one, the average surprise being 3.51%.
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