Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Reports Positive Phase 2 Results for Atumelnant

Morgan Stanley raised the firm's price target on Crinetics to $87 from $80 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm sees a continuation of U.S. small-to-mid cap biotech's outperformance in 2026 as commercial names transition from "capital consumers to producers" and Large Cap Biopharma faces a looming patent cliff, the analyst tells investors in an outlook note for the group.

RBC Capital analyst Brian Abrahams notes that Neurocrine's (NBIX) CAH competitor Crinetics (CRNX) reported new phase II data from an additional cohort that were allowed to have their GC dose reduced on physician discretion. The data looked very supportive of their drug's ability to rapidly lower A4 levels while enabling GC dose reduction, highlighting a potential competitor that could reach the CAH market within the next few years. However, the firm believes comparing the dataset to Neurocrine's phase III study data is limited, primarily due to the differences in patient population. Overall, RBC notes that while competitor data reaffirms as potential emerging player in the space, this was already well known, patient stickiness may shield Crenessity from future competition, and even with conservative estimates, the firm believes allow for out-year competition for new patient starts, it sees Crenessity contributing $1.1B to Neurocrine's revenue stream in the U.S. market alone. RBC would be a buyer of Outperform-rated Neurocrine on weakness.