What happened
Shares of Emergent BioSolutions (EBS 11.98%) were falling 4% as of 11:07 a.m. EDT on Thursday after sinking as much as 7.6% earlier in the day.
The stock tumbled earlier this week after the company was forced to halt production at its Bayview facility in Baltimore, Maryland, while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted an inspection. This facility had been used to manufacture Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, although no doses had been yet distributed for use in the U.S.
The FDA issued a scathing report from this inspection on Wednesday. These problems led Cowen analyst Boris Peaker to lower his firm's price target for the healthcare stock to $67 per share from $86.
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So what
There's one silver lining with Peaker's lower price target: It's higher than Emergent's current share price. However, the company has a lot to overcome for investors' confidence to be restored.
First, Emergent BioSolutions must address the FDA's concerns about its Bayview facility. The company stated in a press release that it "is committed to working with the FDA and Johnson & Johnson to quickly resolve the issues identified." It added that the issues "are correctable and we will take swift action to remedy them."
That could be the easiest hurdle for Emergent BioSolutions to jump. The company might have a tougher time winning manufacturing contracts from other drugmakers with its highly publicized problems.
Now what
Investors will obviously want to closely monitor Emergent BioSolutions' actions in remediating the issues at its Bayview facility. It will be even more important to watch the company's quarterly updates over the next year to see if the quality problems at the facility impact the company's financial results.
