Why Verve Therapeutics Zoomed 40% Higher This Week

Good news from the laboratory and a clutch of bullish analyst notes were the drivers behind Verve Therapeautics' (NASDAQ: VERV) big stock price leap this week. By the time the dust cleared, the biotech company's shares soared 40% higher over the period, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Verve's got nerve

Verve is a clinical-stage biotech, so its success depends on how it's progressing with its pipeline. The indications were quite encouraging this week when the company published initial data from a phase 1b clinical trial of VERVE-102, a drug targeting heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) -- a genetic disorder that causes high cholesterol levels -- and premature coronary artery disease.

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In the trial involving 14 patents, the treatment appeared to be efficacious, particularly in reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in the body. It was also well tolerated with no serious adverse events reported.

Following the news, analysts tracking Verve stock wasted little time publishing bullish new notes on the stock. Several raised their price targets with one -- Cantor Fitzgerald -- even upgrading its recommendation to the equivalent of a buy.

The bulls came out

Not every analyst was so hot on Verve in the wake of the readout; JPMorgan Chase pundit Eric Jospeh actually lowered his price target (to $16 per share from $19).

Generally, though, prognosticators greeted the development positively. BMO Capital's Kostas Biliouris, in reiterating his outperform (i.e, buy) recommendation, according to reports wrote in a fresh note that the drug's performance beat expectations, and its safety profile positioned it in "a wide therapeutic window."

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JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.