What happened
Wednesday was a banner day for stocks, but you'd never know it from the performance of Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO -5.10%). The biotech's shares fell by nearly 6% in the wake of its latest earnings release and clinical update.
So what
After market hours on Tuesday, Inovio revealed that it booked revenue of $839,000 in its fourth quarter of 2021, well down from the $5.6 million in the same quarter the previous year. The net loss was $106.9 million ($0.50 per share), again significantly worse compared to the year-ago result (a loss of $24.3 million).
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Neither line item came close to analyst estimates. On average, prognosticators tracking the stock were expecting $1.4 million on the top line and a net loss of only $0.36 per share.
The wide misses were compounded by an update on Inovio's clinical programs. Crucially, this included INO-4800, the experimental coronavirus vaccine that shot the company to prominence in the thick of the pandemic.
Inovio said that in recent phase 3 clinical testing, "INO-4800 was observed to provide full maintenance of T cell responses, but significantly decreased levels of antibodies against the Omicron variant in line with results observed with other COVID-19 vaccines." In light of that, Inovio said that it hopes to garner regulatory approval to change the primary endpoint of the trial "from prevention of virologically confirmed COVID-19 disease to prevention of severe disease due to COVID-19."
Now what
The one-two punch of weaker-than-expected results and a big course correction with a late-stage clinical trial for a promising vaccine really knocked down Inovio stock on Wednesday. The biotech is going to have to deliver some uplifting news about one of its pipeline programs -- and soon -- if it hopes to restore investor confidence in its business.
