Halozyme Shares Rise Following Upgrade To 'Buy'

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. gained Wednesday following an upgrade from a Roth Capital Partners analyst, who said he is more confident in the company's plans.

Andrew Vaino raised his rating on Halozyme stock to "Buy" from "Hold" and boosted his price target to $8 per share from $5. In afternoon trading, shares of the San Diego-based company gained 40 cents, or 6.6 percent, to $6.50.

The stock last traded at $8 in September.

Halozyme is developing a synthetic human enzyme, performing clinical tests to see if the product can speed up the effects of drugs after they are injected into the body. Vaino believes Halozyme is testing its enzyme in combination with two cancer drugs: Herceptin and either Rituxan or Avastin.

Herceptin is approved to treat breast cancer, while Rituxan is used against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis and Avastin is approved for types of colon, breast and lung cancers.

Vaino based the conclusion on statements by Roche, which owns the drugs and has a partnership with Halozyme, along with Food and Drug Administration data.

The analyst also approved of Halozyme's decision to cut back its development efforts on another drug, the bladder cancer candidate Chemophase. In March, Halozyme said it had decided to focus its resources on other potential drugs rather than on Chemophase.