PTC Therapeutics Reports First Quarter 2019 Financial Results and Provides a Corporate Update

On May 2, 2019 PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) reported a corporate update and reported financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2019 (Press release, PTC Therapeutics, MAY 2, 2019, View Source [SID1234535538]).

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"We believe we are making great strides towards our vision of having many more treatments for patients of rare disorders," said Stuart Peltz, Ph.D., CEO of PTC Therapeutics. "The approval of Translarna expands our footprint in Brazil. We are now preparing for the launches for multiple products, including Tegsedi for hATTR and Waylivra for FCS in Latin America. These differentiated therapies for rare disorders have the potential to be part of growing our revenue base to $1.5 billion by 2023."

Key First Quarter and Other Corporate Highlights:

Expanding commercial platform

Translarna received approval from the Brazilian health regulatory authority (ANVISA) which will allow for expanded market access.

Waylivra received a positive CHMP opinion from the European medical authorities in the first quarter 2019 and will be referred to the European Commission for consideration. After ratification by the European Commission, PTC plans to initiate early access programs in Latin America in 2019.

Tegsedi application submitted to the Brazilian health regulatory authority (ANVISA) was granted priority review, with expected approval by year end 2019. PTC has initiated early access programs for Tegsedi to support patient diagnosis and monitoring in Latin America.

PTC has submitted a sNDA with the FDA for Emflaza for patients 2 to 5 years old and received an approval action date of July 4, 2019.

Advancing gene therapy portfolio

As previously disclosed, PTC plans to submit a BLA with the FDA in late 2019 followed by an MAA in Europe for the AADC deficiency gene therapy program with anticipated commercial launch in the United States in 2020.

Friedreich ataxia program is advancing with an expected IND submission in late 2019 and subsequent entry in the clinic.

PTC is in the process of finalizing a long-term lease on an existing biologics manufacturing facility for the gene therapy pipeline.

Risdiplam SMA data expected at American Academy of Neurology (AAN)

As previously disclosed, based on regulatory interactions an NDA and MAA is planned for the second half of this year with the intention to support a broad label to treat SMA Types 1, 2, & 3 patients.

The SMA program is a collaboration between PTC, Roche and SMA Foundation.

Net sales over $1B would be subject to mid-teens royalties to PTC from Roche, resulting in potential royalties to PTC in excess of $200M per year. Potential remaining regulatory and sales-based milestones are approximately $400M.

Growing pipeline and R&D capabilities

As previously disclosed, PTC’s splicing platform has generated another development candidate, PTC258, for Familial dysautonomia, a rare genetic neurological disorder causing life-threatening medical complications from birth. PTC258 is advancing through IND-enabling studies to enter the clinic in late 2019. This program is in collaboration with MGH and NYU

Translarna’s dystrophin study in currently enrolling for potential U.S. regulatory re-submission for accelerated approval in 2020.

PTC’s oncology portfolio continues to advance with studies in AML with PTC299 and DIPG & LMS for PTC596. PTC expects these studies to fully enroll by the end of 2019.

PTC Re-iterates Full Year 2019 Guidance:

PTC anticipates full year DMD franchise net product revenues to be between $285 and $305 million.

PTC anticipates GAAP R&D and SG&A expense for the full year 2019 to be between $395 and $405 million.

PTC anticipates Non-GAAP R&D and SG&A expense for the full year 2019 to be between $360 and $370 million, excluding estimated non-cash, stock-based compensation expense of approximately $35 million.

First Quarter 2019 Financial Highlights:

Total revenues were $53.6 million for the first quarter of 2019, compared to $56.1 million for the first quarter of 2018.

Translarna net product revenues were $35.3 million for the first quarter of 2019, compared to $36.8 million for the first quarter of 2018. These results reflect lumpiness in ordering patterns from Latin America.

Emflaza net product revenues were $17.8 million for the first quarter of 2019, compared to $19.2 million for the first quarter of 2018. These results reflect first quarter dynamics including seasonality and a planned transition to a new specialty pharmacy distributor.

GAAP R&D expenses were $52.6 million for the first quarter of 2019, compared to $31.4 million for the first quarter of 2018. The increase in R&D expenses reflects costs associated with advancing the gene therapy platform and increased investment in research programs as well as advancement of the clinical pipeline.

Non-GAAP R&D expenses were $47.9 million for the first quarter of 2019, excluding $4.7 million in non-cash, stock-based compensation expense, compared to $27.6 million for the first quarter of 2018, excluding $3.7 million in non-cash, stock-based compensation expense.

GAAP SG&A expenses were $40.6 million for the first quarter of 2019, compared to $33.0 million for the first quarter of 2018. The increase in SG&A expenses were primarily due to continued investment to support our commercial activities.

Non-GAAP SG&A expenses were $36.0 million for the first quarter of 2019, excluding $4.6 million in non-cash, stock-based compensation expense, compared to $29.0 million for the first quarter of 2018, excluding $4.0 million in non-cash, stock-based compensation expense.

Change in the fair value of deferred and contingent consideration was $21.2 million for the first quarter of 2019. The change in fair value of deferred and contingent consideration is related to the fair valuation of potential future consideration to be paid to former equity holders of Agilis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Agilis) in connection with PTC’s acquisition of Agilis, which closed in August 2018.

Net loss was $72.1 million for the first quarter of 2019, compared to net loss of $19.3 million for the first quarter of 2018.

Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $407.2 million at March 31, 2019, compared to $227.6 million at December 31, 2018.

Shares issued and outstanding as of March 30, 2019 were 58,418,790 .

Non-GAAP Financial Measures:
In this press release, the financial results and financial guidance of PTC are provided in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP) and using certain non-GAAP financial measures. In particular, the non-GAAP financial measures exclude non-cash, stock-based compensation expense. These non-GAAP financial measures are provided as a complement to financial measures reported in GAAP because management uses these non-GAAP financial measures when assessing and identifying operational trends. In management’s opinion, these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors and other users of PTC’s financial statements by providing greater transparency into the historical and projected operating performance of PTC and the company’s future outlook. Non-GAAP financial measures are not an alternative for financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Quantitative reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to their respective closest equivalent GAAP financial measure are included in the table below.

Today’s Conference Call and Webcast Reminder:
Today’s conference call will take place at 4:30 pm ET and can be access by dialing (877) 303-9216 (domestic) or (973) 935-8152 (international) five minutes prior to the start of the call and providing the passcode 1559069. A live, listen-only webcast of the conference call can be accessed on the investor relations section of the PTC website at www.ptcbio.com. The accompanying slide presentation will be posted on the investor relations section of the PTC website. A webcast replay of the call will be available approximately two hours after completion of the call and will be archived on the company’s website for two weeks.