BUZZ — Oppenheimer upbeat on Veru, says 'come for the lean mass, stay for the muscle function'

* Brokerage Oppenheimer rates drug developer Veru's stock "outperform" with a PT of $24 as it sees considerable stock upside from current levels * Stock last closed at $2.19 and has risen 2.3% YTD * Brokerage says it has high confidence in Veru's experimental oral drug, enobosarm, to show significant lean body mass preservation and greater fat loss vs semaglutide alone in a mid-stage interim analysis next quarter * Such results would derisk 4Q27's topline and potentially make enobosarm a logical fit for patients most vulnerable to GLP-1—associated muscle loss, brokerage says * Weight-loss treatments designed to help patients preserve muscle while losing weight could generate more than $30 billion in sales by 2035, analysts at TD Cowen had said * If upcoming trial results show consistent gains in lean muscle mass and reductions in fat mass, it would support enobosarm's long-term benefits alongside GLP-1 weight-loss drugs - Oppenheimer (Reporting by Sneha S K) ((Sneha.SK@thomsonreuters.com;)