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Aerie's (AERI) Q1 Loss Wider Than Expected, Revenues Miss

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Aerie Pharmaceuticals incurred a loss of 72 cents per share in the first quarter, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 69 cents but narrower than the year-ago loss of 84 cents.

Revenues came in at $23 million, which increased from $20.3 million in the year-ago quarter but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.64%. Total revenues came from sales of two approved drugs — Rhopressa and Rocklatan.

The stock has rallied 24.6% so far this year against the industry’s loss of 10.9%.

 

Quarter in Detail

Wholesaler shipments totaled 257,000 bottles in the quarter under review, down from 307,000 bottles in the previous quarter.

We remind investors that the company’s first drug, Rhopressa (netarsudil ophthalmic solution), has been approved for the reduction of elevated intraocular pressure (“IOP”) in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. Aerie’s second drug, Rocklatan, a once-daily, quadruple-action, fixed-dose combination of Rhopressa and Pfizer’s (PFE - Free Report) Xalatan, has been approved to reduce elevated IOP in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

Rhopressa currently has commercial coverage for 90% of lives and market access for 89% of lives covered under Medicare Part D plans. Commercial coverage for Rocklatan represents 89% of covered lives.    

Total operating expenses (excluding stock-based compensation expenses) in the reported quarter were $42.2 million, down from the year-ago quarter’s $48.1 million.

Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Quote

Recent Updates

Aerie’s phase IIb study for its dry eye product candidate, AR-15512, continues to progress. The company currently expects top-line results from this study, COMET-1, in the third quarter of 2021. The study was initiated in October 2020 and is powered as a phase III study.

Aerie continues to evaluate the clinical and regulatory pathways for phase III studies on AR-1105 (dexamethasone steroid implant) in both the U.S. and European markets.

Meanwhile, Investigational New Drug Application (IND)-enabling preclinical studies are underway for AR-14034 SR, a sustained-release implant containing the pan-VEGF inhibitor, axitinib, formulated in a unique bio-erodible polymer blend.

The first-in-human clinical trial on AR-13503 SR (Rho kinase and protein kinase C inhibitor sustained-release implant) continues to progress. Aerie currently expects to complete the dose-escalation safety evaluation with the current implant design in the first quarter of 2022.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Aerie currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked stocks in the healthcare sector include Corcept Therapeutics (CORT - Free Report) and Repligen Corporation (RGEN - Free Report) , both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Corcept’s earnings estimates have moved up 8 cents for 2021 in the past 90 days.

Repligen’s earnings estimates have increased 25 cents for 2021 in the past 90 days.

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