Global Blood Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:GBT) incurred a loss of 87 cents in the first quarter of 2019, which was in line with the loss incurred in the year-ago quarter but narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 94 cents.
Research and development (R&D) expenses in the first quarter were $34.5 million, up 17.8% year over year. The increase in R&D expenses was mainly due to increased employee-related costs, including non-cash stock compensation, and increased consulting spend associated with NDA filing activities.
G&A expenses in the first quarter were $18.1 million, up 41.4% year over year. The increase in expenses was due to higher employee-related costs, including non-cash stock compensation, and increased expenditure associated with the buildout of the company’s commercial infrastructure.
Shares of the company have surged 41.6% year to date compared with the industry’s growth of 3.3%.
Global Blood expects net loss to increase during 2019, as it will increase its manufacturing efforts for voxelotor, conduct additional clinical studies for the same in sickle cell disease (SCD) and continue the ongoing SCD studies. The company also expects to witness an increase in general and administrative (G&A) spending, as it looks to build commercial infrastructure and prepare for the potential commercial launch of voxelotor.
Other Updates
Global Blood completed the pre-NDA meeting with the FDA. The company announced that the agency approved a rolling submission of voxelotor for the potential treatment of SCD. The company expects to submit an NDA in the second half of 2019.
Global Blood Therapeutics, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Global Blood Therapeutics, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Global Blood Therapeutics, Inc. Quote
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
Global Blood currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Some better-ranked stocks are Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) , Fibrocell Science Inc. (NASDAQ:FCSC) and Genmab A/S GNMSF. All the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Gilead’s earnings per share estimates have increased from $6.65 to $6.90 for 2019 and from $7.00 to $7.11 for 2020 in the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in three of the trailing four quarters, the average being 6.86%.
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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