What happened
Shares of rare-disease drugmaker Amicus Therapeutics (FOLD -0.23%) edged higher last month on the back of the company's first-quarter earnings release. Specifically, the biotech's shares gained 2.43% in May, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
So what
For a company of Amicus' size and current developmental state, investors probably weren't focused so much on its net loss of $55 million for quarter as they were on the company's progress on the clinical, regulatory, and commercialization fronts. After all, Amicus reported that its oral Fabry disease drug, Galafold, continued to make significant in-roads against rival injected medicines from Sanofi and Shire plc following its approval in Europe last year.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Amicus' short-term fortunes are going to be driven by Galafold's ability to gain regulatory approval in Japan, as well as whether it can continue to grab market share in Europe. Taken together, these two markets are forecast to drive Amicus' annual revenue up by a staggering 216% in 2018 to roughly $100 million.
Beyond Galafold, Amicus is barreling toward a late-stage readout for its experimental epidermolysis bullosa therapy, SD-101, and that could prove to be yet another major catalyst for this mid-cap biotech. Per its last update, the company plans to unveil SD-101's top-line data in the third quarter of this year. And if it's positive, Amicus could become a two-product orphan drug company by perhaps late next year.
So while Amicus' present valuation isn't particularly attractive based on its sky-high price-to-sales ratio of 131, the company does have several catalysts on the horizon that may, in fact, transform it into a compelling bargain over the next year or so.
