Aardvark Therapeutics (AARD) faces a "potentially challenging" path forward for ARD-101 in Prader-Willi syndrome, with unblinded data from a halted phase 3 study expected to provide additional insight, RBC Capital Markets said in a note Thursday.
The phase 3 study was previously halted by the US Food and Drug Administration due to cardiac signals, prompting unblinding of the study, the analysts said.
RBC expects the resulting dataset to include patients treated for varying durations, including a limited number who completed the study.
The dataset's interpretability could be limited by the short treatment duration and differences in exposure, particularly because the study used higher doses after an initial 200mg period, according to the note.
Clear reductions in hunger scores among patients receiving ARD-101 compared with placebo could provide more "definitive support", RBC said.
RBC maintained its sector perform rating and $6 price target on Aardvark Therapeutics.
Price: $5.53, Change: $-0.03, Percent Change: -0.54%