bluebird (NASDAQ:BLUE) reported a loss of $4.04 per share in the fourth quarter of 2019, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $3.81 and the year-ago quarter’s loss of $2.72.
Revenues of $10 million were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenues were down from $19.2 million in the year-ago quarter. The decrease mainly resulted from lower collaboration revenues under the company’s arrangement with Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) .
Shares of the company have slumped 33.9% in the past year compared with the industry’s decline of 2.7%.
Quarter in Detail
R&D expenses escalated to $161.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 from $119.7 million a year ago due to costs incurred by the company to advance and expand the pipeline.
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses of $76.2 million were up 42.4% from the year-ago quarter to support the company’s ongoing operations, the overall growth of the pipeline and commercial-readiness activities.
2019 Results
The company’s loss per share was $14.31, wider than a loss of $10.68 in 2018.
The company generated revenues of $44.7 million, down 18.2% year over year
Pipeline Development
During the quarter, theEuropean Commission granted conditional marketing authorization to LentiGlobin for β-thalassemia, to be marketed as Zynteglo (autologous CD34+ cells encoding βA-T87Q-globin gene) gene therapy, for patients 12 years or older with TDT, who do not have a β0/β0 genotype, for whom hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is appropriate but a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched related HSC donor is not available.
bluebird initiated its rolling Biologics License Application (BLA) submission of LentiGlobin for β-thalassemia for approval in the United States. The company is currently planning to complete the BLA submission in the second half of 2020.
In December 2019, the company announced positive top-line data from the pivotal phase II KarMMa study of ide-cel in relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.
The company plans to submit a BLA to the FDA for ide-cel in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma in the first half of 2020, in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb.
The company also expects to submit a BLA to the FDA and a marketing authorization application to the European Medicines Agency for Lenti-D in patients with cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy by the end of 2020.
Zacks Rank and Other Stocks to Consider
Currently, bluebird is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock.
A few other well-placed stocks in the biotech sector are Aduro Biotech Inc. (NASDAQ:ADRO) and Guardant Health Inc. (NASDAQ:GH) all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Aduro’s loss per share estimates have narrowed from 86 cents to 77 cents for 2020 in the past 60 days.
Guardant’s loss per share estimates have narrowed from $1.18 to $1.13 for 2020 in the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in the trailing four quarters by 39.21%, on average.
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Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY): Free Stock Analysis Report
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