Medicines Company (MDCO) Q3 Loss Widens, Inclisiran in Focus
The Medicines Company MDCO incurred third-quarter 2018 loss of 70 cents per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 48 cents. However, the loss was narrower than the year-ago loss of 82 cents per share.
Shares of Medicines Company have decreased 13% so far this year, narrower than the industry’s decline of 16.5%.
In third-quarter 2018, the company reported negative revenues of $3.3 million compared with the prior-year quarter’s figure of $7.9 million. Also, the top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4 million. The negative revenues can be attributed to changes in estimated net sales reserves and returns related to the sale of the company’s Angiomax brand plus full-authorized generic rights to partner Sandoz, Inc. The divestiture was part of Medicines Company’s restructuring and streamlining assets to focus solely on the development of its late-stage candidate, inclisiran.
Adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) were down 58% year over year to $11 million in the reported quarter.
Medicines Company had $118.7 million in cash and cash equivalents as of Sep 30, 2018 compared with $162.5 million on Jun 30, 2018.
Pipeline Update
Inclisiran is currently being evaluated in ORION studies to treat patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and elevated LDL or “bad cholesterol” levels. Medicines Company and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ALNY are collaborating on the development of inclisiran.
Notably in late September 2018, Medicines Company announced that the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) recommended that the ongoing phase III ORION studies on inclisiran will continue as designed and is being conducted without any modification.
The latest suggestion from the IDMC regulatory body came after its fourth review of the unblinded safety and efficacy data from the ORION programs on the PCSK9 inhibitor, which Medicines Company considers to have blockbuster potential.
Both companies expect to present clinical data from the ORION analyses early in the second half of 2019 and subsequently, file for a new drug application (NDA) as well as a marketing authorization application (MAA) in late 2019 and early 2020, respectively.
In January, The Medicines Company completed the sale of its infectious disease business unit to the privately held antibiotics company, Melinta Therapeutics, Inc. With this divestment, the former sold the worldwide rights of Orbactiv, Minocin and Vabomere. The deal was executed for a $270-million upfront consideration and guaranteed payments. The company is also entitled to receive 5-25% tiered royalties on the worldwide net sales of the aforementioned drugs.
The Medicines Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
The Medicines Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | The Medicines Company Quote
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
The Medicines Company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Two better-ranked stocks in the healthcare sector are Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ALXN, both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Gilead Sciences’ earnings estimates have been revised 4.4% upward for 2018 and 4.2% for 2019 over the past 60 days.
Alexion’s earnings estimates have moved 4.8% north for 2018 and 1.8% for 2019 over the past 60 days. The stock has gained 3.2% so far this year.
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