Nurix Therapeutics gets 'market perform' rating as Leerink starts coverage

Brokerage Leerink Partners initiates coverage on drug developer Nurix Therapeutics NRIX.O with "market perform" rating and a PT of $16

New PT represents a 17.7% upside to the stock's last close

Brokerage says though NRIX's experimental chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) treatment, bexobrutideg, has shown good early stage results, the market is tough and is dominated by major players such as AstraZeneca AZN.L, AbbVie ABBV.N and Novartis NOVN.S

Leerink sees NRIX's partnerships with Sanofi SASY.PA and Gilead GILD.O as risky, in light of Sanofi's concurrent collaboration with another firm and the less optimistic outlook on the candidate with Gilead

"Overall, we see NX-5948 as a good drug with a tough setup, and we await additional progress on the Immunology & Inflammation side to get positive" — brokerage

NRIX stock down 3.2% in the past 12 months