Roth Capital analyst Yasmeen Rahimi sees COVID-19 disruptions as only a "minor distraction" from Amarin's (AMRN) continued commercial rollout of Vascepa.

Although the pandemic has made it difficult for the company to fully take advantage of its sales expansion started in 2019, Amarin has taken innovative steps to keep interactions between sales reps and doctors, Rahimi tells investors in a research note. Further, the analyst notes that Amarin bumped up the timeline for a Vascepa appeals decision, with a hearing as early as Q3 and ruling thereafter by the end of 2020 or early 2021. With an expedited timeframe for its appeal, Amarin is a "strong-buy" ahead of a potential federal circuit ruling, contends Rahimi.

Following a deep dive with a "patent law guru," the analyst sees a high probability of success for the company on appeal. Alongside the "strategic optionality" being explored for Vascepa commercialization in Europe and a "strong resiliency" in the COVID crisis, Amarin shares offer "significant upside" potential for 2020, says Rahimi. 

The analyst keeps a Buy rating on the name with a $31 price target. The stock closed Friday at $7.34.