Shares of Silence Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ:SLN) surged 18.6% on Wednesday after Cantor Fitzgerald began covering the stock and issued an Overweight rating. The analyst initiating coverage, Prakhar Agrawal, focused his thesis on the biopharmaceutical firm's clinical-stage RNA interference pipeline.
A central element of Agrawal's bullish view is divesiran, a TMPRSS6-targeted siRNA being evaluated in a Phase 2 study for polycythemia vera. Silence Therapeutics has scheduled topline readout from that trial for August 2026, a milestone the analyst flagged as pivotal to the company's outlook.
At an approximate market capitalization of $300 million, Agrawal described Silence as materially undervalued. He assigned a 75% probability of success to the Phase 2 polycythemia vera trial, and estimated that the market appears to be pricing in a probability of success below 25% for that program.
Agrawal cited divesiran's Phase 1 results in polycythemia vera as supporting evidence - those data reportedly showed a 100% response rate among well-controlled patients in that early-stage study. In constructing a valuation frame, he also referenced the benchmark set by rusfertide's positive Phase 2 performance in polycythemia vera, suggesting a potential net present value range for divesiran of $1 billion to $2.3 billion.
Silence Therapeutics is described as a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing RNA interference therapies across several disease areas. The Cantor Fitzgerald initiation and associated valuation commentary appear to have driven the immediate market reaction in SLN's stock.
Market context and short-term timeline
The stock movement was directly tied to the research note and its assessment of the company’s lead clinical asset. With topline Phase 2 results expected in August 2026, investors now have a specific data milestone to watch that could materially influence company valuation and sentiment.
Valuation reference points
Agrawal’s note contrasts Silence’s current market capitalization with his probability-adjusted expectations for divesiran and uses recent positive Phase 2 data from a peer asset, rusfertide, as a benchmark for potential upside in polycythemia vera.