JPMorgan thinks buyers ought to flock to biotechnology firm Beam Therapeutics , which the agency says stands to learn from elevated market share and a powerful gene remedy pipeline. Analyst Eric Joseph upgraded the inventory to obese from impartial and upped his worth goal by $2 to $40, implying shares may leap a whopping 64.7% over the subsequent 12 months. “In our view, Beam’s proprietary genetic base-editing platform provides either first or best-in-class potential across a diverse array of programs in heme and liver-mediated disease indications with advantages in editing efficiency, specificity, and editing in larger organ systems,” Joseph wrote in a Monday notice. Heme is a element of hemoglobin, a protein in pink blood cells. “We see BEAM outperforming our coverage over the mid-term, with current levels being an attractive entry point,” the analyst mentioned. Beam’s inventory worth jumped 7% Monday. The inventory is down greater than 4% thus far this 12 months, and has misplaced greater than 42% over the previous 12 months. BEAM 1Y mountain Beam inventory. Nevertheless, in line with Joseph, the corporate is on the frontier of a rising theme for buyers this 12 months: therapeutics. Beam has had compelling preclinical datasets, the analyst famous, saying he finds engaging and de-risked industrial alternatives for Beam in its developments in opposition to sickle cell illness and alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, or AATD, which is a genetic situation that predisposes a person to continual obstructive pulmonary illness and liver illness. In line with the analyst, Beam’s BEAM-302 remedy is “uniquely positioned” as a one-time genetic drugs for AATD, which he expects to be a powerful alternative for buyers within the coming years. “We see AATD (re)building as therapeutic theme in 2024/25…With orphan disease-like pricing, we estimate a current TAM upwards of $10-15B in the U.S. alone,” Joseph mentioned. “In view of multiple gene modifying programs getting underway in 1H24… we see AATD returning as an investor focus over the next 12-24 months.” Beam has a roughly $12 billion industrial alternative from BEAM-302, a liver-targeting lipid-nanoparticle therapeutic that’s designed to appropriate the PiZ mutation, which is the most typical gene variant related to extreme AATD, Joseph mentioned. “Core to our upgrade thesis is the expectation of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) being a rising therapeutic theme in 2024, and BEAM-302 being a compelling gene therapy candidate with best-in-class disease modifying potential across the full breadth of patients,” Joseph mentioned. He added that BEAM-302 is “uniquely positioned” as a one-time genetic drugs for AATD, significantly given its success in preclinical trials. Knowledge has confirmed that therapy with BEAM-302 considerably elevated ranges of corrected and purposeful alpha-1 antitrypsin, whereas lowering mutant PiZ in lots of in vivo rodent illness fashions, in line with Beam. A part 1 trial for BEAM-302 is ready to begin within the first half of this 12 months.