Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ:AGEN) reported first-quarter 2019 earnings of 12 cents per share against the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 30 cents and the year-ago quarter’s loss of 42 cents.
The company generated revenues of $8.6 million, which includes non-cash royalties, compared with no revenues in the year-ago quarter. Revenues marginally missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9 million.
Shares of the company have rallied 21% year to date compared with the industry’s growth of 3.3%.
Quarterly Highlights
Research and development (R&D) expenses rallied 36.3% to $40.1 million. General and administrative expenses increased 26.8% to $10.2 million.
Pipeline Update
Agenus is a clinical-stage, immuno-oncology company with a comprehensive portfolio, consisting of antibody-based therapeutics, adjuvants and cancer vaccine platforms.
In December 2018, the company inked a collaboration deal with Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) to develop and commercialize up to five immuno-oncology (I-O) therapies. In January 2019, it announced the closing of its I-O partnership deal with Gilead.
Agenus recently received $7.5 million in cash as a milestone payment from Gilead, after the FDA accepted the former's investigational new drug (IND) application for AGEN1423 (Now GS-1423). AGEN1423 is a first-in-class molecule, currently being developed in partnership with Gilead as a potential treatment for cancer. Agenus also received additional milestones of $150 million from Gilead.
The company started first-in-human trial with its next-generation CTLA4.
Agenus Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Agenus Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Agenus Inc. Quote
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
Agenus currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks are Fibrocell Science Inc. (NASDAQ:FCSC) and Genmab A/S GNMSF. Both the stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Fibrocell’s loss per share estimates has narrowed from $2.68 to $1.15 for 2019 and from $2.55 to 97 cents for 2020 in the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in two of the trailing four quarters, the average being 28.30%.
Genmab’s earnings per share estimates have increased from $2.69 to $2.79 for 2019 and from $4.91 to $5.08 for 2020 in the past 60 days.
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Agenus Inc. (AGEN): Free Stock Analysis Report
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