Spectrum Pharma's (SPPI) Q3 Loss Narrows, Focus On Rolontis

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:SPPI) adjusted loss of 22 cents per share in the third quarter of 2019 was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 26 cents and the year-ago quarter’s loss of 24 cents.

The company’s shares have lost 8.3% so far this year against the industry’s growth of 3.8%.

Quarter in Detail

The company did not record any revenues during the quarter. However, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues stood at $1 million.

Please note that, in March, the company completed the sale of its marketed portfolio to privately-held Acrotech Biopharma for an upfront payment of $158.8 million.

Adjusted research & development (R&D) expenses were $16.1 million, up 9.5% from the year-ago quarter.

Adjusted selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses declined 10.8% to $9.9 million.

Pipeline Update

Spectrum Pharma’smost advanced candidate is Rolontis (eflapegrastim), a novel, long-acting granulocyte stimulating factor. It has been developed for the management of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. In October, the company submitted the biologics license application (“BLA”) for the sameto the FDA.

Spectrum Pharma is developing another pipeline candidate, poziotinib, as monotherapy or in combination with other drugs for the treatment of lung and breast cancers.

A phase II study — ZENITH20 — is evaluating poziotinib in non-small cell lung cancer (“NSCLC”) in seven cohorts. Top-line results from the EGFR NSCLC cohort (Cohort 1) of the study are expected in December. These data could potentially support a new drug application (NDA) filing with the FDA. The HER2 previously-treated NSCLC cohort (Cohort 2) of the ZENITH20 study is expected to report top-line results by mid-2020. The company has initiated a basket study to investigate poziotinib in patients with EGFR or HER2 mutation-positive malignant solid tumors.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Spectrum Pharma currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A few better-ranked stocks in the biotech sector are Alkermes Plc. (NASDAQ:ALKS) , Anika Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ANIK) and AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AVEO) , all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Alkermes’ earnings per share estimates have increased from 36 cents to 52 cents for 2019 in the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in the trailing four quarters by 236.80% on average.

Anika’s earnings per share estimates have increased from $1.75 to $2.03 for 2019 and from $1.36 to $1.62 for 2020 in the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in the trailing four quarters by 53.31% on average.

AVEO’s estimates have gone up from a loss of 6 cents to a profit of 1 cent for 2019 in the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in three of the trailing four quarters by 28.34% on average.

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