Debra Borchardt
Beleaguered biotech company Insys Therapeutics Inc. (INSY) reported a loss of $20.4 million in the first quarter for a loss of $0.28 cents per share. Adjusted those losses ended up being $0.19 cents per share, meeting analyst expectations.
The pharmaceutical company is known for its kickback scheme on painkillers still managed to post revenue of $23.9 million, which missed the estimates for revenues of $24.7 million. Gross revenue was $38.5 million, a decrease of 26% versus last year. The drop was attributed to the decline in sales of Subsys.
Expenses rose to $19.9 million as compared to last year’s $15 million for the same time period, mostly due to increased legal expenses. Despite its legal issues, Insys has forged ahead with clinical trials for CBD oral solutions with initiations of Phase three and Phase two trials. The company is also exploring a nasal spray.
“The continued momentum in our pipeline in the first quarter of 2018 is indicative of the strong foundation we established in 2017 that will enable the company to shift its focus from opioids to become a leader in pharmaceutical cannabinoids and spray technologies,” said Insys CEO Saeed Motahari. “Our recently launched clinical trials for the use of CBD in patients with infantile spasms and Prader-Willi Syndrome, combined without collaboration with the University of California San Diego, gives us strong confidence in our future leadership position in cannabinoids to develop potential solutions for patients in need.”
Stock Performance
The stock was lately trading at $6.78, down from its 52-week high of $15.02, but above the year low of $4.02. Six analysts cover the stock with and an average price target of $8.00 according to Yahoo Finance. Two are rating the stock at Hold, two at buy and two t strong buy.
Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Zynerba Pharmaceuticals (ZYNE) also reported its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday with a loss of $12.3 for a loss of $0.91 cents per share versus last year’s loss of $7 million for the same time period or $0.60 cents per share. Analysts has estimated the company would report a loss of $0.64 cents per share.
Research and development expenses for the quarter were $8.9 million versus last year’s $5.4 million. The company has cash and cash equivalents of $52.1 million, which Zynerba says is enough to fund operations through 2019.
“We have made significant progress on advancing our lead asset, ZYN002 transdermal CBD gel, in the first few months of 2018,” said Zynerba CEO Armando Anido. “We recently initiated our Phase 2 study of ZYN002 in patients with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies and we are preparing to initiate a single pivotal trial for Fragile X Syndrome. We expect to achieve a number of additional milestones this year, which should position us for an exciting and data-rich 2018 and 2019.”
Stock Performance
The stock fell 13% on the earnings announcement and was lately trading at $9.00, down from its year high of $20.73.
