William Blair initiated research coverage of Brickell Biotech, Inc. (BBI $0.21), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies to treat autoimmune, inflammatory, and other debilitating diseases. The company’s programs include sofpironium bromide for primary axillary hyperhidrosis, which it plans to outlicense for commercialization; BBI-02, a novel DYRK1A inhibitor that is expected to enter the clinic in first half 2022; and a library of STING antagonists that will be developed for autoimmune and inflammatory indications.

Analyst Tim Lugo said, “Brickell recently pivoted from a focus on dermatology to focus on inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The company’s most advanced asset is sofpironium bromide gel, a soft topical anticholinergic in development for the treatment of axillary hyperhidrosis. Given Brickell’s size and need for a major marketing push to build out the hyperhidrosis market, management plans to seek a commercialization partner for the asset and focus on the development of its novel pipeline of compounds for inflammatory diseases. We believe Brickell’s library of DYRK1A inhibitor candidates, and the intellectual property associated with it, positions the company as a potential leader in the space with its first candidate BBI-02 expected to enter Phase I clinical trials in 2022. Brickell also has a preclinical portfolio of stimulator of interferon genes, or STING, antagonists that it recently licensed from Carna Biosciences. We believe that the program, while in early stages with an IND not likely until 2024, is a good opportunity for Brickell. The space has seen interest from big pharma and smaller biotech companies alike, suggesting that this portfolio could prove highly valuable as the pipeline evolves.”

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Outperform (Buy): 77%
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