On May 9, 2016 Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, which included an increase in revenue of 128 percent from the prior-year period and a net loss of $19.8 million, or $0.16 per share, compared to a net loss in the first quarter of 2015 of $15.1 million, or $0.12 per share (Press release, Halozyme, MAY 9, 2016, View Source [SID:1234512116]).
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"During the first quarter, we continued to execute against our two-pillar strategy with ongoing clinical studies of PEGPH20 and through growing the value of our ENHANZE platform," said Dr. Helen Torley, president and chief executive officer. "We made good progress toward our goal of initiating greater than 90 percent of HALO-301 sites by the end of the year and in evaluating the recommended dose to take into the expansion phase of our lung and gastric cancer studies.
"With our ENHANZE platform, we continued to see strong growth in royalty revenue combined with progress from our partners’ programs. During the quarter, Lilly nominated its third target triggering an $8 million milestone and Pfizer nominated an additional target triggering a $1.5 million milestone. These developments highlight the great potential associated with our ENHANZE technology franchise."
First Quarter 2016 and Recent Highlights include:
Dosing of first patient in HALO-301 | Pancreatic study in March, a phase 3 study to explore PEGPH20 with gemcitabine and ABRAXANE (nab-paclitaxel) in metastatic pancreatic cancer patients. The company plans to initiate sites outside the United States beginning in the second quarter and to reach its target of greater than 90 percent of centers ready to start screening patients by the end of the year.
Approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of an investigational device exemption for the companion diagnostic test developed with Ventana to prospectively identify patients with high levels of hyaluronan, or HA, in the company’s phase 3 study.
Progressing towards dose expansion in its phase 1b/2 PRIMAL study of PEGPH20 plus docetaxel in non-small cell lung cancer patients. The company is now evaluating patients at a dose of 2.2 µg/kg and remains on track to move into the dose expansion phase of the study in the second half of 2016.
Advancing into the second dosing cohort and recently submitting a protocol amendment in its phase 1b study of PEGPH20 plus KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in lung and gastric cancer patients. The company submitted the protocol amendment to the FDA based on bleeding events observed in heavily pretreated relapsed gastric cancer patients. These events were not classified as dose limiting toxicities or determined by investigators to be related to PEGPH20. Halozyme is awaiting feedback from the FDA and plans to resume enrollment in the second dosing cohort following approval of the amendment.
Eli Lilly nominating their third target to be studied with Halozyme’s ENHANZE platform, triggering an $8 million milestone payment to Halozyme which will be received in the second quarter.
Pfizer nominating an additional target to be studied with Halozyme’s ENHANZE platform, triggering a $1.5 million milestone to Halozyme.
Baxalta receiving a positive opinion for HYQVIA from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for a pediatric indication in Europe. In addition, Baxalta initiated a phase 3 trial in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.
Expansion of oncology pipeline and demonstration of expertise in the tumor microenvironment with two new preclinical programs, an immune checkpoint inhibitor targeting adenosine and a novel antibody-drug conjugate targeting epidermal growth factor receptor. Preclinical data for the discovery and early development of these potential drug candidates were shared during the 2016 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) annual conference.
First Quarter 2016 Financial Highlights
Revenue for the first quarter was $42.5 million, compared to $18.7 million for the first quarter of 2015, driven primarily by milestone payments from Lilly and AbbVie, as well as royalties from partner sales of Herceptin SC, MabThera SC and HYQVIA. Revenue for the quarter included $11.4 million in royalties, $9.0 million in sales of bulk rHuPH20 primarily for use in manufacturing collaboration products and $3.9 million in HYLENEX recombinant (hyaluronidase human injection) product sales.
Research and development expenses for the first quarter were $40.1 million, compared to $16.7 million for the first quarter of 2015. The planned increases were primarily due to expenses for preclinical and clinical support of PEGPH20 and clinical API supply to ENHANZE partners.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the first quarter were $10.8 million, compared to $9.4 million for the first quarter of 2015. The increase was primarily due to an increase in personnel expenses, including stock compensation, for the period.
Net loss for the first quarter was $19.8 million, or $0.16 per share, compared to a net loss in the first quarter of 2015 of $15.1 million, or $0.12 per share.
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $238.6 million at Mar. 31, 2016 compared to $108.3 million at Dec. 31, 2015.
Financial Outlook for 2016
For the full year 2016, the company is updating its previously announced guidance. Halozyme now expects:
Net revenues to be in the range of $130 million to $145 million, an increase from the prior range of $110 million to $125 million, driven by unplanned ENHANZE milestones and an increase in bulk product sales to ENHANZE partners;
Operating expenses to be in the range of $245 million to $260 million, a narrowing of the bottom end of the prior range of $240 million to $260 million as a result of the increase in product sales to ENHANZE partners;
Cash flow to be in the range of $45 million to $65 million, an increase from the prior range of $35 million to $55 million; and
Year-end cash balance to be in the range of $150 million to $170 million, an increase from the prior range of $140 million to $160 million.