Erasca Shares Plunge 48% Following Patient Death

H.C. Wainwright kept a Buy rating on Erasca with a $20 price target after the company reported preliminary Phase 1 data for ERAS-0015. The data show a "clear step-up in early efficacy" relative to the pre-readout bar, particularly in lung cancer, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, the firm says ERAS-0015's safety profile is "directionally favorable but not without caveats." The dataset is "not fully clean," with a Grade 5 pneumonitis event reported in a heavily pretreated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma patient, where a Grade 3 event progressed to a fatal outcome despite intervention, notes H.C. Wainwright. This "introduces tension with the otherwise benign safety narrative and raises questions around attribution and reporting consistency," the firm says. It expects near term stock pressure until there is greater visibility on both ERAS-0015's safety profile and the trajectory of the company's recent litigation. Erasca in afternoon trading is down 47%, or $8.94, to $10.21.