This biotech stock is up nearly 50% in three months. CEO says business is ‘growing significantly’
It’s been a banner few months for shares of the San Francisco-based biotech company Rigel Pharmaceuticalswhich has approved treatments for hematology and oncology – as well as potential new drugs in the pipeline.
The stock is up about 50% in the last three months alone, earning it a spot on CNBC’s list of top-performing stocks from companies based in the City by the Bay. To find the stocks, CNBC looked for names based in the region with market capitalizations above $500 million. We then used FactSet to find the top performers of the last three months.
“We have a company that is growing significantly,” CEO Raul Rodriguez said in an interview with CNBC’s Brian Sullivan. “[We] has grown at an average of 30% for four years and about 50% this year…adding new products, growing those products, being financially disciplined so we are profitable.”
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Rigel Pharmaceuticals since the beginning of the year
Rigel beat analysts’ expectations when it reported second-quarter results in August. Earnings came to $3.28 per share, compared with the $2.58 per share expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. Revenue came in at $101.7 million, well above the consensus estimate of $88.9 million. The company also raised its full-year revenue forecast to a range of $270 million to $280 million from $200 million to $210 million.
There was also growth in the three medications currently on the market. Tavalisse treats patients with low platelet counts due to chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Gavreto is a treatment for lung cancer, while Rezlidhia is a targeted treatment for adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who have an isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation.
Two clinical programs are currently underway, one of which is led by his partner Eli Lilly to treat an autoimmune and inflammatory disease called Ocadusertib. The other is for what Rigel calls R289, which is aimed at treating patients with lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (LR-MDS), a type of blood cancer.
R289 is currently in early-stage clinical trials and Rodriguez hopes to present some data at the American Society of Hematology meeting in December.
“We are starting a new phase of trials where we are adding a much larger number of patients,” he said. “So by the end of next year we will be able to say something much more definitive about this product and this indication.”
Rigel is scheduled to report its latest quarterly results on November 4th.
Correction: Rigels R289 treats patients with lower risk myelodysplastic syndrome. The company offers hematology and oncology treatments. An earlier version of this story misstated the name of the drug.
