Shares in PTC Therapeutics (PTCT 3.65%) surged by 17.5% in the week to Friday morning, as the market digested management's upbeat presentation at the Cantor Global Healthcare Conference on Wednesday.
What management said at the Cantor Global Healthcare Conference
CEO Matthew Klein's presentation focused on the commercial market opportunity for Sephience, an orally administered therapy for treating phenylketonuria (PKU). Sephience has been approved in the U.S. and Europe, as it lowers the abnormally high levels of amino acid phenylalanine that builds up in PKU sufferers. It's a condition that puts severe dietary restrictions on PKU sufferers.
Klein believes that the majority of patients on the drug will be responders and could achieve significant reductions in phenylalanine. PTC has a $1 billion commercial opportunity in the U.S. and a $500 million commercial opportunity outside the U.S.
Moreover, Klein said the words that every investor in a young growth stock wants to hear, namely that PTC's cash balance and growing sales from Sephience will take the company to cash-flow breakeven before long. That's a key point because it implies PTC might need to raise capital in the future, and can fund its developmental program without issuing debt or selling equity.
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What's next for PTC Therapeutics
Klein promised an update on Sephience and initial progress on commercializing the drug, including data on patient start forms in the U.S., as well as the number of commercial patients on the drug in the U.S. and internationally -- something to look out for when the company reports, likely in early November.
