(By Balachander) Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ: SNTA) shares were initiated with a "Buy" rating and price target of $12 by Brean Capital.
The brokerage wrote it expects several important catalysts for SNTA's lead drug candidate, Ganetespib, during 2013 with important Phase 2 data readouts in lung and breast cancer.
Brean Capital forecasts commercial launch of Ganetespib in 2015, with global sales in 2nd-line NSCLC alone reaching $1B by 2020.
The brokerage said its current sales forecasts for NSCLC do not yet contemplate any contribution from Japan or from expansion into earlier stage or maintenance lung cancer, as monotherapy, or in other indications such as metastic breast cancer.
SNTA has initiated the pivotal Phase 3 portion of the GALAXY program for 2nd-line NSCLC, and the brokerage expects the trial to fully enroll by YE13, with an interim analysis during 1H14 and final results by 2H14.
Meanwhile, Brean Capital expects the company to announce final PFS data for Ganetespib from the ongoing Phase 2b portion of the GALAXY program during 1H13, with overall survival from the trial maturing in 2H13.
The stock, which has been trading in the 52-week range of $3.57 to $9.85, traded 0.35 percent higher at $8.64 on Thursday.