What happened
Without any meaningful revenue, Momenta Pharmaceuticals' (MNTA) second-quarter report was rather uneventful, so it's a little surprising to see shares down 13.5% today without any significant news.But perhaps the lack of news is what's making short-term investors head for the exits.
So what
Momenta recorded $6.6 million in product revenue from sales of Novartis' Glatopa, a generic version of multiple sclerosis treatment Copaxone. That was double the same period a year ago, but nothing to get excited about considering the company lost $57 million during the quarter.
Despite having helped create a couple of drugs, Momenta is essentially still a development-stage biotech, so its cash runway is a lot more important than revenue and earnings. Fortunately, Momenta ended the quarter with over $450 million in the bank, so the drugmaker is in no danger of running out of money in the near term.
Through Friday, shares in Momenta were up 67% year to date thanks to successful proof-of-concept data for nipocalimab as a treatment for generalized myasthenia gravis, a autoimmune neuromuscular disease. It seems likely that some of Monday's decline is simply due to investors hoping there would be additional drug pipeline news and taking profits when no new information materialized.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Long-term investors won't have to wait too much longer for additional clinical trial data for Momenta's pipeline drugs. Later this quarter, Momenta expects to release data for an early stage candidate, M254, being tested for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Next quarter, investors will get to see the full results from the nipocalimab phase 2 study in generalized myasthenia gravis.
Momenta is still a long way out from getting its next drug on the market, so long-term investors can ignore the day-to-day gyrations in the stock price and focus on the continued development of the company's pipeline, which will ultimately determine Momenta's long-term value.
