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With $2 billion in the bank, the biotech can afford to invest in the future.
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Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS +0.00%) continues to rake in royalties from its spinal muscular atrophy drug Spinraza while it waits for revenue from newly approved TTR amyloidosis drug Tegsedi to start rolling in. The Tegsedi launch increased expenses enough that the biotech was in the red for the quarter, but with $2 billion in the bank, Ionis can afford to invest in the future.
| Metric | Q3 2018 | Q3 2017 | Year-Over-Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $145.4 million | $118.3 million | 22% |
| Income from operations | ($18.6 million) | $11.3 million | N/A |
| Earnings per share | ($0.03) | ($0.02) | N/A |
Data source: Ionis Pharmaceuticals.
Image source: Getty Images.
Tegsedi requires routine blood monitoring, but Stanley Crooke, Ionis' chairman and CEO, said it isn't that big a deal and even took the opportunity to presumably take a jab at Alnylam's Onpattro, which is delivered by intravenous (IV) infusion, compared to Tegsedi, which can be self-injected:
It's over in a matter of just a couple of minutes. It's rapid easy. Certainly, speaking for myself, I would rather do that than go to an infusion center and spend a day getting an IV infusion.
Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth Hougen pointed out how the growing number of partnered programs is contributing to the revenue:
For each program we advance, we are eligible to earn milestone payments and license fees. We currently have 22 partnered programs, a number that has nearly tripled since 2012. In 2012, we earned $51 million of revenue related to license fees and milestone payments. That's compared to over $135 million in license fees and milestone payments we have earned so far this year.
In the fourth quarter, with Spinraza at its highest royalty rate for the entire quarter, Ionis should see the best quarterly income for the drug since the launch. It'll also have initial sales of Tegsedi, although investors should be prepared for a slow launch, as some time will be needed to get patients set up on the drug with insurance reimbursement.
Looking further ahead, aforementioned AKCEA-APO(a)-LRx and IONIS-HTTRx, which is being developed by Roche for Huntington's disease, should start phase 3 programs soon, hopefully setting up the next round of approvals.