Several firms commenting on Sequenom (NASDAQ:SQNM) after the co announced it has delayed the launch of its Down syndrome (T21) test due to “employee mishandling” of R&D study data in both the RNA & DNA arms. As such, the company is no longer relying on previously reported results as “the clinical performance appears questionable”. SQNM is als
o reviewing data from its other Dx tests, and a special independent committee is investigating.- Stephens is downgrading SQNM to Equal Weight from Overweight while lowering their tgt to $6 from $30. Clearly SQNM has taken a substantial credibility hit here and will likely lose a significant portion of its market capitalization today. Furthermore, they believe a delay in the launch of the prenatal diagnostics franchise exacerbates potential liquidity risk. Firm believes the best way to currently value the business is to look at a sum of the net parts. Given current uncertainty surrounding SQNM's diagnostic franchise, they recommend investors move to the sidelines until we receive externally validated data.
