Endocyte (ECYT) Posts Narrower-than-Expected Q3 Loss

Endocyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECYT) incurred a loss of 27 cents per share in third-quarter 2017 narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 35 cents. However, the figure came in wider than the year-ago loss of 21 cents. The loss has been adjusted to exclude an upfront payment of $12 million to ABX GmbH.

In September, the company acquired exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize PSMA-617 including the product candidate known as ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA-617 from ABX GmbH. ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA-617 is a first-in-class radiolig and therapeutic (RLT) that targets prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). In the first half of 2018, Endocyteexpects to initiate phase III study for the same.

Including $16.5 million of acquired in-process research and development expenses related to this transaction, the loss per share came in at 55 cents.

Meanwhile, collaboration revenues remained flat at $0.03 million in the quarter under review .

So far this year, Endocyte’s share price has increased 89.8%, outperforming the industry’s 2.4% growth.

Quarterly Details

Research and development (R&D) expenses declined 46.3% year over year to $4.1 million mainly due to severance for workforce reduction as part of the company’s restructuring plan, lower trial and manufacturing costs for EC1456, lower pre-clinical general research costs and a decrease in manufacturing expense for EC1169.

General and administrative expenses were almost flat year over year at $3.0 million as higher legal and professional costs were offset by lower stock compensation expense due to employee terminations.

Pipeline Update

Endocyte’sCAR T-Cell program is on schedule to initiate clinical trial in Osteosarcoma in 2018.In addition,, it expects to present updated results from anon-randomized study of ¹⁷⁷Lu-PSMA-617 in prostate cancer patients in the same year.

2017 Outlook

Endocyteanticipates its cash, cash equivalents and investments balance to be above $90 million at the end of 2017.

Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider

Endocyte carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked health care stocks in the same space include Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) , Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ:AGEN) and Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:ADAP) . While Ligand sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Agenus and Adaptimmune carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Ligand’s earnings per share estimates have moved up $3.68 to $3.70 for 2018 over the last 30 days. The company pulled off positive earnings surprises in two of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 6.19%. The share price of the company has increased 44.6% year to date.

Agenus’ loss per share estimates have narrowed from $1.40 to $1.36 for 2018 over the last 30 days. The company delivered positive earnings surprises in three of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 4.27%.

Adaptimmune’s loss per share estimates have narrowed from 96 cents to 82 cents for 2017 and from 90 cents to 76 cents for 2018 over the last 60 days. The company came up with positive earnings surprises in two of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 24.79%. The share price of the company has increased 108.4% year to date.

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