Clovis Oncology (CLVS +0.00%) reported $38.3 million to $39.3 million in preliminary fourth quarter sales of its cancer drug Rubraca. At the midpoint, that's 27.6% higher than the year-ago quarter, but only a 3.2% increase compared to the third quarter. For the full year, preliminary Rubraca sales were in the $142 million to $143 million range, almost a 50% increase over 2018.
On Monday, Clovis Oncology also announced that it sold 17,777,679 shares at $9.25 per share to some of the holders of its convertible senior notes that are due in 2024. The company plans to use the proceeds to repurchase approximately $123.4 million in principal amount of the notes from the holders.
Shares of Clovis Oncology were down 9.5% to $8.37 at 12:43 p.m. on Tuesday following the relatively slower growth of Rubraca and the financing that will dilute current shareholders.
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Investors will get a full rundown of sales and earnings when the biotech reports official fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 24. In the meantime, investors can check out the company's presentation at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Monday where management will likely give additional commentary about the quarter.
Rubraca is currently approved to treat patients with epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer with mutations in BRCA genes who have been treated with two or more chemotherapies. The drug is also approved as a maintenance therapy for patients who have responded to a platinum-based chemotherapy.
While growth of Rubraca has waned, there's potential for Clovis to reaccelerate sales growth. The drug was recently launched in England and Italy and should be launched in other European countries this year. Rubraca is also currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for recurrent, metastatic castrate-resistant prostate tumors with BRCA mutations.
