Inovio (INO) Q3 Loss Wider Than Expected, Revenues Miss

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) reported loss of 40 cents in the third quarter of 2017, wider than both the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 23 cents and the year-ago loss of 28 cents.

Inovio reported revenues of $2.6 million in the third quarter, significantly missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14 million. Also, the top line substantially declined 79.2% from the year-ago period. This downside in revenues can mainly be attributable to lower grants received from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the development of an Ebola vaccine, which is nearing completion.

Shares of Inovio were down 3.8% in after-hours trading. The stock has massively underperformed the industry so far this year. It has lost 23.2% against the industry’s growth of 3% during the period.

Notably, Inovio has collaboration agreement with several companies and institutes including Roche, AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) , University of Pennsylvania and GeneOne Life Science among others for developing its pipeline. These partners not only lend expertise to Inovio but also provide the required funding for developing its candidates.

During the quarter, revenues under grants and miscellaneous revenues dropped substantially to $1.5 million from $9.4 million a year ago.

Research and development expenses decreased 5.5% to $25.5 million owing to less expenses incurred, related to DARPA Ebola program.

General and administrative expenses rose 8.6% to $6.3 million, primarily due to an increase in employee headcount.

Pipeline Update

VGX-3100, an HPV immunotherapy, is the most advanced candidate in the company’s pipeline, currently being evaluated in a phase III study for treatment of cervical dysplasia caused by human papillomavirus (“HPV”).

The company is also conducting a phase II study to examine the efficacy of VGX-3100 in women with HPV-related vulvar neoplasia.

Earlier in July, the company started an independent phase I trial on its DNA immunotherapy, INO-1800, against hepatitis B virus, after Roche (OTC:RHHBY) backed out from its collaboration agreement in July 2016. Data from the study is expected in fourth-quarter 2017.

Also, the company is working on the development of Ebola, Zika and Middle East respiratory syndrome virus vaccines. In October, Inovio reported positive safety and immune response results from a first-in-man, multi-center phase I study of a vaccine (GLS-5700) against the Zika virus. The company, along with partner GeneOne Life Science, also initiated a phase I/IIa study to evaluate MERS virus (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) vaccine, GLS-5300. The study was approved by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in September this year.

In November, Inovio initiated a phase I/II study to evaluate the combination of its T-cell activating immunotherapy, INO-5401, with Regeneron’s (NASDAQ:REGN) PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, REGN2810, on patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM). The study is designed to evaluate safety, tolerability, immune responses as well as progression-free survival and overall survival of the combination therapy.

Zacks Rank

Inovio 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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