Crinetics Pharmaceuticals shares rise as analysts see ‘drug hunters in their zone’

Shares of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Inc.
CRNX,

gained more than 4% premarket on Thursday after Oppenheimer analysts initiated coverage of the shares with an outperform rating, calling Crinetics ‘drug hunters in their zone.’ Crinetics focuses on developing treatments for rare endocrine diseaess, an area where current drugs’ risk-benefit tradeoffs “leave much room for improvement, or approved options are outright lacking,” the analysts wrote in a note Wednesday. Through its non-peptide drug discovery capability, Crinetics is well positioned to meaningfully improve treatments for a growing number of endocrine disorders, the analysts wrote, and the company’s investigational treatment paltusotine is on track to become the preferred therapy for acromegaly, a serious disease in which the body produces too much growth hormone. The Oppenheimer analysts have a $40 price target for the shares. Crinetics stock is down 9.7% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.38%
has gained 17.6%.