Veracyte shares jumped 11.5% on Tuesday as the company announced a new collaboration with Bayer to advance the Precision Oncology Patient Identification Program in thyroid cancer.
Through this program, Bayer will offer testing with Veracyte’s (VCYT) Afirma Xpression Atlas (XA) to identify underlying genomic drivers, including NTRK gene fusions, within patients’ tumors. The program will focus on patients with advanced or metastatic thyroid cancer that is radioactive iodine refractory, who may potentially benefit from biomarker-driven therapies.
Veracyte’s CEO Bonnie Anderson stated, “Our collaboration with Bayer will help ensure that all eligible thyroid cancer patients can be tested and identified for actionable genomic alterations – at no cost to them – so they may potentially benefit from biomarker-driven therapies”
“This is the first collaboration between the two companies, and we anticipate continued strategic programs to further precision oncology,” Anderson added. (See VCYT stock analysis on TipRanks)
On Dec. 17, BTIG analyst Sung Ji Nam increased the price target on Veracyte to $56 from $42 and reiterated a Buy rating. Nam believes that while the 2020 performance of the life science tools and diagnostics space “will be a tough act to follow” next year, the sector is at a “major inflection point” in terms of engendering innovations and disruptive technologies that enable more effective drug discovery, development and diagnostics.
Overall, Veracyte scores a Strong Buy analyst consensus based on 4 Buys and 1 Hold. With shares skyrocketing 105% year-to-date, the average price target of $48.80 indicates a possible downside of 14.6% over the coming year.
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