Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANAC) opened Thursday's trading with a 10% decline, but have recovered somewhat to a more modest 6% loss in the afternoon, after last night's release of the company's first-quarter earnings.
So what: Investors seem disappointed by the fact that Anacor won't have any drugs on the market next quarter, as the company has no real sales at the moment. It reported $4.2 million in revenue for the quarter, which was boosted primarily by funding provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to develop certain treatments for neglected diseases. Anacor's increased spending (primarily due to stock-based compensation) resulted in a loss of $0.51 per share, which was deeper than the $0.39 loss per share Wall Street had expected.
Now what: In last night's earnings call, Anacor executives reiterated their plans to obtain FDA approval for toenail antifungal treatment Kerydin on July 29 -- at the very end of the second quarter -- but note that ramping up sales and marketing efforts will take some time and that the real "launch" quarter will be the fourth quarter, rather than the third. Kerydin is Anacor's closest-to-market treatment, and a lot is riding on its success. Anacor already projects that it will burn through nearly $90 million of its cash on hand by the end of the year, to end up with about $60 million left over. It'll be important for the company to drive Kerydin sales quickly to keep its reserves from running out, or today's shareholders may be forced to endure a dilutive secondary offering.
