Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) traded higher on Tuesday after a kidney patient bill, dubbed HR-5074, moved into the markup phase in Congress, which, according to Jefferies, removed a key overhang for the company's newly launched product, Xphozah.
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Georgia) had proposed the bill to delay the inclusion of oral-only end-stage renal disease (ESRD) drugs in the Medicare ESRD prospective payment system.
Amid investors' concerns about when the bill would pass, "this has created an overhang on the stock due to a lack of Xphozah visibility beyond 2027," Jefferies analyst Dennis Ding wrote.
The markup of HR-5074 scheduled for Mar. 6 at 10 a.m. "should dramatically increase the chances of the bill getting passed," Ding added, with a Buy rating and $11 per share target on ARDX.
In October 2023, the FDA approved Xphozah to reduce serum phosphorus in adults with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. The company launched the oral phosphate absorption inhibitor in November 2023 and added $2.5M in net sales.
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