New public biotech Kyverna Therapeutics could be the developer of a blockbuster cell therapy for autoimmune disease, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Michael Ulz initiated coverage on the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with an overweight rating and a $40 price target, implying an upside of about 43% from the close. The sixth day. Kyverna began trading on Nasdaq on February 8, when the stock rose 56% to reach a market capitalization of $1.4 billion. The stock opened at $34.25, above its initial public offering price of $22 per share, and closed Friday at $27.75. The company, which develops cell therapies for people with autoimmune diseases, is currently developing its lead product candidate, KYV-101, a CAR T-cell therapy originally designed as a next generation for cancer, but has also been proven to work. According to Ulz, efficacy is comparable and tolerability is improved for autoimmunity. “Autoimmune disease cell therapy is an emerging and increasingly competitive space that represents a potentially large market opportunity, and we believe that Kyverna is well positioned given its promising early data and potential for differentiation.” Although data from KYV-101 is limited, Ulz wrote that he was “encouraged by the promising results across multiple indications, multiple sites, and in challenging patients.” He noted that Kyverna aims to dose 100 patients by 2024 and added that he expects some updates this year on the drug’s potential for autoimmune disease. The analyst points out that cell therapies have “meaningfully improved” the treatment of B-cell cancers and that many therapies are now approved, increasing the potential of these therapies to treat treat autoimmune diseases. However, that also makes the autoimmune treatment space more competitive, Ulz noted. “Demonstration of a favorable product profile (i.e. efficacy and safety) will be key to success, and we believe the early data shows KYV-101 is well positioned, but needs add data from Kyverna and others to understand how this dynamic evolves.” wrote in the note. “That said, we see opportunities to differentiate in other areas, such as the choice of different designations (i.e. MS) and manufacturing improvements (i.e. Ingenui -T).” Ingenui-T is a next-generation process in preclinical development for the production of autologous anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy and uses the same CAR architecture as KYV-101, Kyverna said. Ulz emphasized that Kyverna is also developing a next-generation cell therapy, KYV-201, which is currently in preclinical development and “could bring further differentiation” to the product portfolio of the company.