Acasti Pharma has tonnes of upside, Mackie Research says

Acasti Pharma’s (Acasti Pharma Stock Quote, Chart TSXV:ACST) third quarter results are in, but they’re of little consequence at the moment, says analyst André Uddin of Mackie Research Capital Corporation, who says investors should be keyed in to results from two Phase III trials which are due by the end of the year.

Drug developer Acasti Pharma released its third quarter fiscal 2019 results on February 14, reporting a net loss of $4.6 million or negative $0.07 per share and $45.6 million in cash and $1.8 million in debt.

With the quarterly results, president and CEO Jan D’Alvise spoke of the company’s prescription drug candidate CaPre omega-3 phospholipid for the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemia.

“We continue to make rapid progress on our TRILOGY Phase 3 trials, and based on current trends we remain on track to report top line results by the end of this year. Importantly, we achieved our enrolment targets in December 2018, however additional patients will continue to be enrolled through the first calendar quarter of 2019 to attain final randomization targets as needed,” says D’Alvise.

Uddin says the company’s quarterly financials are less important at this stage but that results from the ongoing trials for CaPre will be a catalyst in 2019.

“Acasti is conducting two Phase III studies (TRILOGY) with CaPre – a potential best-in-class Omega-3 drug for severe hypertriglyceridemia. Over 1,450 patients have been enrolled, from which Acasti is going to randomize 500 subjects – by Feb. 12, 2019, over 74% had been randomized. Acasti is on track to disclose top-line results of the two trials by CY2019 end – a key catalyst this year,” says Uddin, in a research update to clients February 14.

Uddin is maintaining his “Speculative Buy” rating and $8.70 price target for ACST, representing a projected return on investment of 625 per cent at the time of publication.