ZymoGenetics downgraded by analyst
Shares of ZymoGenetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZGEN) fell $2.16, or 17%, to $10.89 today on news that the maker of therapeutic proteins was downgraded by an analyst.
“We are downgrading ZGEN to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Perform’, as of January 18, based on concerns about product pricing and initial market acceptance of Recothrom,” wrote Kevin DeGeeter, an analyst with investment bank Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., in a research note. Recothrom is a blood clotting drug that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Jan. 17.
DeGeeter also wrote that he thinks the Seattle-based company will have difficulty getting regulatory approval for an additional two drugs currently in development.
The analyst forecasts total sales of between $52.6 million and $65.3 million in 2008, resulting in a net loss of between $2.32 per share and $2.18 per share.
“We continue to think 2008 Street sales estimates for ZGEN are too high,” DeGeeter wrote. The consensus view on Wall Street is for revenues of $76 million.
The stock’s 52-week low of $10.64 was established on Jan. 4, whole the 52-week high of $16.80 was reached on May 30, 2007.
