Analyst upgrade after OV329's Phase 1 safety clearance. Phase 2 expansion targets TSC and infantile spasms with few effective options. Watch for conference data.
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Ovid Therapeutics received a buy rating from analyst Terry Chrisomalis on Friday. The call came after the company said its lead asset OV329 cleared Phase 1 safety hurdles and started a Phase 2 expansion for two rare epilepsies. The stock rose on the news.
OV329 is a next-generation GABA-AT inhibitor. It belongs to the same class as vigabatrin, a drug that carries a black-box warning for permanent vision loss. That warning has limited vigabatrin’s use. Chrisomalis said OV329 was designed to avoid that toxicity. The Phase 1 safety data now support that claim in humans. Preclinical work had shown a wider therapeutic window.
The Phase 2 program targets tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) and infantile spasms. TSC patients often develop treatment-resistant seizures. Infantile spasms is a devastating epilepsy of infancy with few effective options. Chrisomalis noted that current therapies fail a significant number of patients. That leaves room for a new drug with a better safety profile.
The news lifts Ovid shares. The readthrough extends to the broader rare-epilepsy field. If OV329 works in TSC and infantile spasms, it would validate GABA-AT inhibition for syndromes that lack good treatment options. That could shift attention to other programs targeting the GABA pathway for neurodevelopmental disorders. For now, Ovid is the purest public play on the mechanism.
Risks remain. The Phase 2 expansion is open-label and just starting. Efficacy data are months away. Chrisomalis based his buy rating on risk/reward at the current valuation, not on confirmed results. Investors should watch for early dosing updates and any safety flags from the first cohort.
Chrisomalis said the open-label design could generate a preliminary efficacy signal within a year. Ovid plans to present baseline characteristics and study design at a medical conference later this year. That is the next scheduled event on the calendar. The buy thesis rests on safety clearance and unmet medical need.
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