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Prothena's (PRTA) Q4 Loss Narrower Than Expected, Revenues Beat
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Clinical-stage company, Prothena Corporation (PRTA - Free Report) , reported encouraging results for the fourth quarter of 2020.
The company reported a loss of 77 cents per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 83 cents but wider than the year-ago quarter’s loss of 54 cents.
Revenues mainly came from the company’s collaboration with Roche Holdings (RHHBY - Free Report) . Quarterly revenues came in at $0.4 million, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 80%. Revenues were up from $0.2 million in the year-ago quarter.
The company’s shares have gained 30.7% in the past year against the industry’s growth of 11.9%.
Quarter in Detail
R&D expenses were $20.8 million, up from $15.5 million in the year-ago quarter due to higher manufacturing costs, increased collaboration expenses with Roche related to the prasinezumab program and elevated R&D consulting expenses.
General and administrative (G&A) expenses came in at $9.9 million, up from $8.1 million in the year-ago quarter.
As of Dec 31, 2020, Prothena had $298.1 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash.
Pipeline Updates
The company is evaluating prasinezumab in collaboration with Roche for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
Roche and Prothena will advance prasinezumab into a late-stage phase IIb study in patients with early Parkinson’s disease. The study will be designed to further assess the efficacy of prasinezumab by expanding enrollment in PASADENA to include patients with early Parkinson’s disease on stable levodopa therapy. Roche earlier presented encouraging results from the phase II PASADENA study of prasinezumab in patients with early Parkinson’s disease.
Prothena plans to advance birtamimab, a potential treatment for AL amyloidosis, into the confirmatory phase III AFFIRM-AL study in Mayo Stage IV patients with AL amyloidosis. This phase III study is a global, registration-enabling study that will be conducted with a primary endpoint of all-cause mortality at p≤0.10 under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement with the FDA.
Prothena reported encouraging results from the phase I study of PRX004, a potential treatment for ATTR amyloidosis. PRX004 showed favorable results as demonstrated by slowing of neuropathy progression for all 7 evaluable patients at 9 months, including improvement in neuropathy in 3 of the 7 patients and improved cardiac systolic function for all 7 patients.
Meanwhile, the company is advancing an early-stage pipeline of programs for a number of potential neurological indications with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY - Free Report) . Preclinical data on PRX005 will be presented next month. The company also expects to file an IND in the third quarter of 2021, which will lead to a potential payment of $80 million from Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Prothena has initiated IND-enabling studies for PRX012, its preclinical Aβ program, and expects to file an IND in 2022.
Earnings estimates for Alexion for 2021 are up 4 cents in the past 30 days.
Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2021
In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 best buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2021?
Last year's 2020 Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolio returned gains as high as +386.8%. Now a brand-new portfolio has been handpicked from over 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Don’t miss your chance to get in on these long-term buys.
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Prothena's (PRTA) Q4 Loss Narrower Than Expected, Revenues Beat
Clinical-stage company, Prothena Corporation (PRTA - Free Report) , reported encouraging results for the fourth quarter of 2020.
The company reported a loss of 77 cents per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 83 cents but wider than the year-ago quarter’s loss of 54 cents.
Revenues mainly came from the company’s collaboration with Roche Holdings (RHHBY - Free Report) . Quarterly revenues came in at $0.4 million, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 80%. Revenues were up from $0.2 million in the year-ago quarter.
The company’s shares have gained 30.7% in the past year against the industry’s growth of 11.9%.
Quarter in Detail
R&D expenses were $20.8 million, up from $15.5 million in the year-ago quarter due to higher manufacturing costs, increased collaboration expenses with Roche related to the prasinezumab program and elevated R&D consulting expenses.
General and administrative (G&A) expenses came in at $9.9 million, up from $8.1 million in the year-ago quarter.
As of Dec 31, 2020, Prothena had $298.1 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash.
Pipeline Updates
The company is evaluating prasinezumab in collaboration with Roche for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
Roche and Prothena will advance prasinezumab into a late-stage phase IIb study in patients with early Parkinson’s disease. The study will be designed to further assess the efficacy of prasinezumab by expanding enrollment in PASADENA to include patients with early Parkinson’s disease on stable levodopa therapy. Roche earlier presented encouraging results from the phase II PASADENA study of prasinezumab in patients with early Parkinson’s disease.
Prothena plans to advance birtamimab, a potential treatment for AL amyloidosis, into the confirmatory phase III AFFIRM-AL study in Mayo Stage IV patients with AL amyloidosis. This phase III study is a global, registration-enabling study that will be conducted with a primary endpoint of all-cause mortality at p≤0.10 under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) agreement with the FDA.
Prothena reported encouraging results from the phase I study of PRX004, a potential treatment for ATTR amyloidosis. PRX004 showed favorable results as demonstrated by slowing of neuropathy progression for all 7 evaluable patients at 9 months, including improvement in neuropathy in 3 of the 7 patients and improved cardiac systolic function for all 7 patients.
Meanwhile, the company is advancing an early-stage pipeline of programs for a number of potential neurological indications with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY - Free Report) . Preclinical data on PRX005 will be presented next month. The company also expects to file an IND in the third quarter of 2021, which will lead to a potential payment of $80 million from Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Prothena has initiated IND-enabling studies for PRX012, its preclinical Aβ program, and expects to file an IND in 2022.
Zacks Rank & A Stock to Consider
Prothena currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). A better-ranked stock in the biotech space is Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , which currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Earnings estimates for Alexion for 2021 are up 4 cents in the past 30 days.
Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2021
In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 best buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2021?
Last year's 2020 Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolio returned gains as high as +386.8%. Now a brand-new portfolio has been handpicked from over 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Don’t miss your chance to get in on these long-term buys.
Access Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2021 today >>