Aduro (ADRO) Q3 Loss In Line With Estimates, Revenues Miss

Aduro BioTech, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADRO) reported third-quarter 2017 loss of 33 cents per share, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate but narrower than the year-ago loss of 54 cents per share.

Quarterly revenues fell 2.4% year over year to $3.7 million. The top line also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.18 million. In July, the company recognized a milestone payment of $2 million from Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK) related to development of Aduro’s anti-CD27 antibody.

Aduro’s shares have underperformed the industry so far this year. The stock has declined 30.3% while the industry registered an increase of 3.3%.

Research and development expenses showed a substantial increase of 28.4% in the quarter to $24.5 million, mainly due to an increase in costs related to manufacturing of B-select antibodies and higher facility related costs.

General and administrative expenses were $8.5 million, down 1.1% year over year due to lower consulting and professional fees.

Pipeline Update

Aduro has a broad pipeline of novel immunotherapies under development for the treatment of a variety of cancers.

The company initiated a phase I study in September to evaluate personalized live, attenuated double-deleted Listeria monocytogenes (pLADD)-based immunotherapy. The immunotherapy, which uses patient-specific antigens, will be studied in patients with microsatellite stable metastatic colorectal cancer. Aduro’s most advanced LADD candidate, CRS-207, is being evaluated in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company’s (NYSE:BMY) Opdivo in two separate phase II studies for gastric cancer and mesothelioma. Data from mesothelioma study is expected by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, the company initiated a phase Ib study to evaluate its STING pathway activator, ADU-S100, in combination with Novartis AG’s (NYSE:NVS) PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, PDR001, for treating solid tumors and lymphomas.

During the quarter, Aduro announced that the FDA has cleared the investigational new drug application ("IND") for anti-APRIL antibody, BION-1301. The company expects to initiate a phase I study by 2017.

Zacks Rank

Aduro currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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