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Immunovant (IMVT) Q1 Loss Wider Y/Y, Pipeline in Focus

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Immunovant, Inc. (IMVT - Free Report) reported fiscal first-quarter 2023 net loss of 57 cents per share, wider than the year-ago quarter's reported loss of 35 cents.

Currently, IMVT does not have any approved product in its portfolio. As a result, it is yet to generate revenues.

The stock has gained 25.7% year to date against the industry’s 12% decline.

Zacks Investment Research
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Quarter in Detail

Research and development (R&D) expenses totaled $50.6 million, up 78.2% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. The year-over-year surge can be attributed to higher development and contract manufacturing costs associated with the development of IMVT-1402, as well as expenses related to the batoclimab program. Additionally, the increase can be attributed to higher personnel-related expenses. The R&D expenses were partially offset by a decline in costs for cross-indication clinical studies.

General and administrative expenses amounted to $15.4 million, up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. The rise was primarily due to an increase in personnel-related expenses, along with higher financial advisory and legal and other professional costs.

As of Jun 30, 2023, Immunovant had a cash balance of $330.0 million compared with $376.5 million as of Mar 31, 2023.

With its existing cash balance, IMVT expects to fund its operating expenses and capital expenditure into the second half of 2025.

Pipeline Update

The company is developing its lead pipeline candidate batoclimab as a subcutaneous injection to treat autoimmune indications, including myasthenia gravis (MG), thyroid eye disease (TED), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and Graves’ disease (GD). Several mid-late-stage studies are currently ongoing to evaluate batoclimab in the treatment of each of these indications.

A phase II proof-of-concept study of batoclimab in GD is ongoing in Germany and initial results from the same are expected in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Immunovant remains on track to report initial results from period 1 of the phase IIb study in CIDP in the first half of 2024. The company also expects to have top-line results from the phase III study in MG and the phase III study in TED in the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025, respectively.

An early-stage study is currently underway to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacodynamic profiles of IMVT-1402 for the treatment of autoimmune disease. IMVT-1402 is a subcutaneously administered FcRn inhibitor. The company expects to report initial data from the single-ascending dose cohorts by September 2023, while initial data from the multiple-ascending dose cohorts are anticipated by October or November 2023.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Immunovant currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks in the same industry are JAZZ Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ - Free Report) , Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD - Free Report) and Corcept Therapeutics (CORT - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for JAZZ Pharmaceuticals has gone up from earnings of $17.41 per share to $17.49 for 2023. The bottom-line estimate has also moved up from $19.37 to $19.48 for 2024 during the same time frame. Shares of the company have lost 15.1% year to date.

JAZZ’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, delivering an average negative surprise of 27.59%.  

In the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Acadia Pharmaceuticals has narrowed from a loss of 58 cents per share to a loss of 40 cents for 2023. The consensus estimate has improved from a loss of 11 cents per share to a profit of 46 cents for 2024 during the same time frame. Shares of the company have rallied 67.4% year to date.

ACAD’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, delivering an average surprise of 20.33%.

In the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Corcept has gone up from earnings of 67 cents per share to 75 cents for 2023. The bottom-line estimate has also improved from 64 cents to 81 cents for 2024 during the same time frame. Shares of the company have rallied 51.1% year to date.

CORT’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, delivering an average surprise of 6.99%.

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