H.C. Wainwright reiterated a Buy rating on Oculis Holding AG (NASDAQ: OCS) shares on Monday, alongside a reduced price target of $26.00 from $47.00, as the company initiated its PIONEER-1 registrational trial for privosegtor in acute-onset optic neuritis.
The trial, which began enrolling patients, will evaluate privosegtor at a 3 mg/kg/day intravenous dose over five days against a comparator arm receiving standard methylprednisolone therapy. The study targets 210 participants and aims to measure the proportion achieving at least a 15-letter gain in low-contrast visual acuity at three months. Oculis secured a Special Protocol Assessment agreement with the FDA for the trial design, supporting a potential New Drug Application submission path.
The analyst’s reduced target reflects a 45% cut, though it still implies nearly 100% upside from Oculis’s current share price of $13.18. The stock has declined 55% over the past six months, leaving it well below the revised target and the broader consensus range of $20.22 to $45.22. Stifel and Needham also adjusted their targets, to $40 and $38 respectively, while maintaining Buy ratings.
Oculis’s pipeline includes multiple programs, though its diabetic macular edema treatment (OCS-01) failed Phase 3 trials, leading to program discontinuation. The company is also advancing licaminlimab (OCS-02) in Phase 2b/3 trials for dry eye disease, with H.C. Wainwright maintaining its $26 target for the program. Privosegtor holds FDA Breakthrough Therapy and EMA Priority Medicines designations, underscoring its potential in optic neuritis treatment.
