Sarepta (SRPT) Q1 Loss Narrows, Exondys 51 Sales Impress

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) incurred a loss of 28 cents per share in the first quarter of 2017, narrower than the year-ago loss of 57 cents and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 32 cents.

Sarepta’s Exondys 51, the first duchenne muscular dystrophy (“DMD”) treatment to gain approval in the United States in September 2016, continued its strong performance. Sarepta recorded revenues of $64.6 million, up 12.7% sequentially, primarily attributable to higher sales of Exondys 51. The drug is under review in EU. However, revenues slightly missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $65.25 million. In the prior-year quarter, Sarepta had earned revenues of $16.3 million.

The company received a negative trend vote on its marketing approval application, seeking approval of Exondys 51 in Europe, following its oral explanation to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.

Shares were down almost 1.9% in after-hours trading on negative trend vote. So far this year, Sarepta’s shares have rallied 40.5% against a 12% decrease registered by the industry.

Operating Expenses

Research and development (R&D) expenses were $43.3 million in the first quarter, up 62.4% year over year. The increase was attributable to increased clinical costs, higher shared collaboration cost related to utrophin platform and increased employee count.

Selling, general & administrative (SG&A) expenses were $33.7 million, up 59.8% year over year, due to worldwide commercial initiatives, compensation and other personnel expenses.

Other Updates

The company completed a type C meeting with the FDA for guidance on development pathway for its exon 53 skipping candidate, golodirsen, for the treatment of DMD. Following the meeting, Sarepta remains on track to complete a rolling submission of a new drug application for this DMD candidate by the end of this year.

In a separate press release, Sarepta announced a partnership with Ohio-based Myonexus Therapeutics to develop five gene therapies for the treatment of Limb-girdle muscular dystrophies.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Sarepta Therapeutics currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the same space are Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) , Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) and Catabasis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CATB) . While Ligand and Protagonist Therapeutics sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Catabasis carries 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 moved up from $4.24 to $4.43 for 2018 and remained stable at $5.32 for 2019 over the last 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in three of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 24.88%. The company’s shares have rallied 14.6% year to date.

Protagonist Therapeutics’ loss estimates narrowed from $1.68 to 66 cents for 2018 and from $2.43 to $1.26 for 2019 over the last 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in three of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 24.95%.

Catabasis’ loss estimates narrowed from 92 cents to 90 cents for 2018 and from $1.48 to $1.43 for 2019 in the last 30 days. The company came up with positive earnings surprise in all the preceding four quarters, with an average beat of 14.56%. The stock has rallied 7.4% year to date

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