TheStreet’s Adam Feuerstein sees Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) jump into the media blitz surrounding the Ebola outbreak as an opportunistic way to publicize itself. In an article about the firm’s public outreach to the U.S. government about its AVI-7537, an experimental injectible Ebola treatment that has had success survival rates of up to 80% against the deadly disease in primates, Feuerstein writes that Sarepta’s only job right now is to focus in finishing its eteplirsen muscular dystrophy drug regulatory package and deliver it to the FDA for review before the end of the year.
“Nothing else is more important to Sarepta, shareholders or Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients and their families”, says Feuerstein who also notes that while Sarepta CEO Chris Garabedian isn’t wrong to remind the U.S. government about the small stock of the AVI-7537 Phase I Ebola drug still in his co.’s freezer, talking to the media about it makes the biopharma company look like just another opportunistic, self-promoting drug developer.
Feuerstein’s advice to Garabedian: “Shut up about ebola and don’t make appearances on CNBC’s Fast Money. Instead, deliver the eteplirsen FDA filing on time and start dosing DMD kids with eteplirsen in the confirmatory phase III study.”
Back in the fall of 2012, the Department of Defense decided to terminate Sarepta’s’ funding on an RNA-silencing treatment for Ebola. Feuerstein argues that if the firm’s Ebola contract with the government is revived, issue a press release on the material news. Until then, the company should mimic the respectable low-key approach taken by Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TKMR) [whose news of its own experimental Ebola treatment punctured a massive share price rally] and not “the crass, stock-pumping antics of Hemispherx Biopharma (HEB) or NewLink Genetics (NLNK).”
Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc., whose stock has a PEG and price/sales t-12 ratio of (-0.61) and 51.13, respectively, focuses on the discovery and development of RNA-based therapeutics for the treatment of rare and infectious diseases. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Currently there are 3 analysts that rate SRPT a strong buy, 4 analysts rate it a buy, 5 rate it a hold and one rates it a sell.
Shares of Sarepta closed at $21.10 on Friday. The stock is down 45% year-over-yeary.
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