H.C. Wainwright has maintained a Buy rating and $12 price target on AC Immune SA (NASDAQ: ACIU), citing encouraging early-stage clinical data for the company’s Alzheimer’s drug candidate ACI-19764.
The analyst’s stance follows a 14.6% surge in AC Immune’s stock over the past week, which pushed shares to $2.90 on August 21. The stock closed at $2.90, up $0.26 or 9.85%, before slipping to $2.83 in after-hours trading. H.C. Wainwright’s target of $12 implies a potential upside of approximately 314% from current levels, compared with a consensus target of $11.98.
AC Immune’s ACI-19764, a NLRP3 inhibitor, demonstrated brain penetration in Phase 1 trials, with daily doses of 10mg or less exceeding IC90 thresholds. Blinded whole-blood assays showed dose-dependent inhibition of IL-1β, while safety data revealed no serious adverse events or treatment withdrawals at doses up to 20mg per day. The drug’s serum half-life exceeded 30 hours, supporting once-daily administration. Unlike IL-6 ligand blockers, ACI-19764 acts upstream of the inflammasome and suppresses IL-18.
The ABATE Phase 1b/2 trial for ACI-24, an anti-amyloid beta active immunotherapy, reported 12-month interim data indicating general safety and tolerability, with no cases of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities with edema. Meanwhile, the company’s ACI-7104 program, targeting early-stage Parkinson’s disease, has received a $4 million grant from the Vijay and Marie Goradia Charitable Foundation to extend Part 1 of the VacSYn Phase 2 trial by two additional years for long-term safety and efficacy evaluation.
AC Immune’s market capitalization stands at $288 million. Initial results from the cardiovascular risk group in the Phase 1b study are expected before year-end, with complete Phase 1/1b data anticipated in the first half of 2027. Final data for ACI-7104 is projected for the second half of 2026.
