Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (CPRX) Posts Loss As Expected In Q1

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) reported a loss of 6 cents per share in the first quarter of 2017, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate but narrower than the loss of 7 cents in the year-ago quarter.

Being a development-stage company, Catalyst Pharma does not have any approved product in its portfolio yet.

Catalyst Pharma’s share price has increased 70.5% year to date, while the Zacks classified Medical-Drugs industry gained 5.9%.

Quarter in Detail

Research and development (R&D) expenses were $2.8 million, down 20.7% from the year-ago quarter. The decline was due to decreased costs for regulatory consulting, drug product manufacturing and clinical and pre-clinical activities.

General and administrative expenses were $1.9 million, down 36.7%. The decline was primarily due reduction in employee costs due to a low headcount, and a decrease in recruiting expenses as well as consulting costs for pre-commercialization activities.

Pipeline Update

Given that Catalyst Pharma does not have any revenue-generating product in its portfolio yet, investors are expected to focus on pipeline and regulatory updates. At present, Catalyst Pharma has two candidates under development – Firdapse and CPP-115.

In the quarter, the company announced positive top-line results from the study assessing Firdapse as a treatment for myasthenia gravis patients that are MuSK antibody positive (MuSK-MG). Also, it expects top-line results from Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) and congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS) trials trial on Firdapse, and looks forward to submit the new drug application (NDA) for Firdapse in the second half of 2017

Furthure, Catalyst Pharma is working on developing a generic version of Sabril (vigabatrin). The company is also exploring alternatives for further development of CPP-115.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Catalyst Pharma currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the health care sector include Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INFI) , Galena Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:GALE) and BioTime, Inc. (NYSE:BTX) . While Infinity and Galena sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), BioTime holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Infinity’s loss per share estimates narrowed from $1.43 to $1.03 and from $1.75 to $1.52 for 2017 and 2016, respectively, over the last 60 days. The company posted positive earnings surprises in three of the four trailing quarters, with an average beat of 36.60%.

Galena’s loss per share estimates narrowed from $2.03 to 58 cents for 2017 over the last 60 days. The company posted positive earnings surprises in two of the four trailing quarters, with an average beat of 53.83%.

BioTime’s loss estimates narrowed 60.9% to 18 cents over the last 60 days, for 2017. The company posted a positive earnings surprise in two of the four trailing quarters with an average beat of 12.32%. Its shares have increased 6.9% in the last one year.

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