Kite Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:KITE) is a development-stage company focused on the development of immuno-oncology treatments and is looking to revolutionize cancer treatments by engaging the body’s own immune system to treat cancer. Kite uses eACT to genetically modify T cells to express either CARs or TCRs. The modified T-cells are designed to recognize and destroy cancer cells. Immuno-oncology is a hot therapeutic area with huge commercial potential.
With no approved products in its portfolio, investor focus will primarily be on the company’s cash burn and pipeline updates.
Kite Pharma is looking to get axicabtagene ciloleucel (previously KTE-C19) approved for a broader label for aggressive non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) including DLBCL, TFL and PMBCL indications, based on the primary analysis of ZUMA-1 study. DLBCL, TFL and PMBCL are all types of aggressive NHL. Kite Pharma initiated a rolling submission of the Biologics License Application (BLA) in Dec 2016 and completed the filing for accelerated approval in March this year. Axicabtagene ciloleucel is expected to be approved and launched in the U.S. in 2017.
Meanwhile, axicabtagene ciloleucel is also being evaluated in other cancer studies as well.
The company has a fairly decent record of earnings surprises. It delivered positive earnings surprises in three of the past four quarters and a negative surprise in one, bringing the average surprise to a positive 9.52%.
Currently, KITE has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but that could definitely change following the company’s earnings report which was just released. We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below:
Loss Wider-Than-Expected: KITE reported first-quarter 2017 loss of 1.74 cents per share, wider than our consensus estimate of a loss of $1.68 cents per share.
Revenues Miss: Revenues in the reported quarter missed expectations. KITE posted revenues of $9.84 million, compared to our consensus estimate of $15.30 million.
Key Stats: While Kite’s research and development expenses shot up 91.5% from the year-ago period to $65.9 million in the reported quarter, general and administrative expenses were $35.8 million, up 114.5% from the year-ago period.
Pre-Market Trading: Shares declined around 1% in pre-market trading.
Check back later for our full write up on this KITE earnings report later!
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Kite Pharma, Inc. (KITE): Free Stock Analysis Report
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