Antibody-drug conjugate powerhouse Seattle Genetics (SGEN) reported its fourth-quarter results after the bell this evening, delivering steady improvement in its top-line results while also reporting a wider loss.
For the quarter, Seattle Genetics saw its total revenue climb 5.5% to $67.4 million as it recognized higher sales of cancer drug Adcetris that were partially offset by lower year-over-year collaborative revenue. The company's net loss widened by $5.1 million to $15.7 million despite higher Adcetris sales to $0.13 per share from $0.09 in the year-ago period.
Actual Adcetris revenue within the U.S. climbed 9% to $38.5 million, as royalty revenue received from licensing partner Takeda Pharmaceutical tripled to $6.6 million. However, collaborative revenue, which includes revenue earned under its Adcetris collaboration with Takeda, as well as other ADC collaborations, such as with Bayer and AbbVie, shrank to $22.3 million from $26.4 million in the year-ago period.
Total expenses for the quarter increased 11.4% to $83.1 million as the exploration of further indications for Adcetris and ongoing research and development expenses for its remaining pipeline pushed costs higher. Seattle Genetics ended the quarter with $374.3 million in cash, which is $10 million higher than the comparable quarter last year.
Looking ahead, the company is forecasting Adcetris net product sales of $155 million to $165 million in 2014, a nearly 11% increase at the midpoint over 2013's net sales, with collaborative and licensing revenue anticipated to be in a range of $55 million to $65 million, a steep drop-off from the $106.8 million in collaborative revenue reported for the full-year tonight. Furthermore, Seattle Genetics is projecting research and development expenses of $245 million to $265 million and selling, general, and administrative expenses of $100 million to $110 million.
