What happened
Shares of Agenus (AGEN +4.20%) were tumbling 4.9% lower as of 3:44 p.m. EDT on Thursday after falling as much as 7.5% earlier in the day. The decline came after the company provided its first-quarter update before the market opened.
So what
Agenus reported revenue of $11.7 million in the first quarter, all of which stemmed from its collaborations with other drugmakers. This result fell short of the average analysts' revenue estimate of $14.5 million. The company posted a net loss of $54.4 million, or $0.27 per share. The consensus analysts' estimate was for a net loss in Q1 of $0.31 per share.
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Those mixed first-quarter results might not have been the only culprit behind the pullback for Agenus, though. Biotech stocks, in general, fell on Thursday, in part because of concerns about the potential impact of the Biden administration's support of waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines to increase the availability of the vaccines in poorer countries.
Now what
The primary potential catalyst for Agenus now is the anticipated U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accelerated approval for balstilimab in treating cervical cancer. Agenus filed for FDA approval of the drug in April.
