ARIAD Lowers Iclusig's 2015 Revenue Outlook, Shares Fall
ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s ARIA shares fell 4.6% after the company lowered the 2015 revenue guidance for its leukemia drug Iclusig, in view of its continuing negotiations with the Economic Committee on Health Care Products in France regarding the drug’s pricing and reimbursement.
ARIAD stated that the company’s previously issued 2015 revenue guidance for Iclusig assumed the completion of pricing and reimbursement negotiations in France by the end of this year. The company will record revenues related to cumulative shipments in France, upon completion of pricing and reimbursement negotiations, net of any amount that will be refunded to the French health authorities as a result of these negotiations. The company now expects the talks to be completed in 2016.
Owing to such delay, the company now expects Iclusig global sales (excluding France) in the range of $110 million to $115 million in 2015, lower than the previous guidance of $130 million to $140 million. While the company estimates shipments of Iclusig in France for 2015 to be worth about $9 million, the cumulative value of shipments at the company through 2015-end are expected to be approximately $26 million.
We note that, Iclusig is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), approved both in the U.S. and EU for the treatment of adults suffering from T315I-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (chronic, accelerated or blast phase) or Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia or for whom no other TKI therapy is approved.
Considering that Iclusig is ARIAD’s sole marketed drug, the latest development is disappointing for the company. We expect investor focus to remain on the performance and updates pertaining to Iclusig, going forward.
ARIAD is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock. Better-ranked stocks in the health care sector include Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ACHN, Anika Therapeutics Inc. ANIK and Mylan N.V. MYL. All three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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