Brokers’ take: Maybank flags potential jackpot for Genting from its pharma unit’s Alzheimer’s drug

MAYBANK has marked Genting Bhd for a potential spike in value after its 20 per cent-owned pharmaceutical unit TauRx announced positive results for its lead investigative drug in the third phase of its Alzheimer’s disease (AD) study.

The research house has reiterated its “buy” rating and target price of RM5.25 for the counter pending an analyst briefing. Analyst Yin Shao Yang notes that “if TauRx is worth US$15 billion, Genting could well be worth a much higher RM8.57 per share”.

The study by TauRx was conducted with 598 patients with AD severity ranging from mild cognitive impairment to moderate. Results showed that TauRx’s lead investigative drug hydromethylthionine mesylate (HMTM) slowed cognitive and functional decline, and normalised brain atrophy to a rate similar to healthy individuals, for patients with early AD or mild cognitive impairment. For patients with mild to moderate AD, HMTM treatment also stabilised cognition and function, and reduced the rate of brain atrophy.