What: Shares of Sangamo BioSciences (SGMO -0.72%), a clinical-stage biotech focused on genomic editing, were up more than 26% in the month of October, according to data from S&P Capital IQ.
So what: The company reported its third-quarter results during the month and while it contained mixed results it nonetheless appears to have pleased Wall Street. Sangamo produced revenue of $8.6 million during the period, which came up a bit short of the $9.3 million that analysts were expecting. However, despite the lower-than-anticipated revenue, the company only lost $9.2 million, or $0.13 per share, during the period, which was ahead of the $0.24-per-share loss that the pros predicted.
For the full year, Sangamo now expects to generate revenue in the range of $35 million to $40 million, and it believes that it should end the year with more than $200 million in cash on its balance sheet.
Now what: 2015 has been a tough year for Sangamo's investors as the company has seen its share price fall by more than 50% over the past 11 months. While a short-term rally is always a good thing, longer term investors in the stock are still far away from being made whole.
Investors began to send shares lower in May that it and partner Biogen (BIIB 0.12%) announced that they would be consolidating plans for their development programs that are targeting beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease. At the time of the announcement, Biogen and Sangamo believed that it would delay the start of phase 1 trials until 2016, which understandably sent shares lower.
More recently, Sangamo announced that it would be restructuring yet another one of its collaboration agreements, this time with Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPG). In the new agreement, Shire returned the rights to Sangamo for their potential treatment of hemophilia A and B, though Shire did retain the rights to continue developing its combined clinical program that is targeting Huntington's disease.
Given that both Biogen and Shire have changed the terms of their initial collaboration deals since the start of the year, investors have probably been losing confidence in the company's technology, which could be the reason that shares have been sent tumbling.
While Sangamo's technology is certainly exciting, given that its most advanced compound is currently only in phase 2 development, it will still be several years before the company could start to generate meaningful revenue from product sales. This therefore remains a high-risk name that should be held by only the most risk-tolerant and patient investors.
