Immune Design (IMDZ) Posts Narrower-Than-Expected Loss in Q4

Immune Design Corp. IMDZ reported loss of 29 cents per share in fourth-quarter 2017 results, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 39 cents and the year-ago quarter’s loss of 57 cents.

Immune Design’s shares have lost 37.5% year to date compared with the industry’s rally of 4.3%.

Quarter in Detail

Total revenues were $0.5 million, down from $2.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenues received from the collaboration with Sanofi SNY for G103 (HSV2 therapeutic cancer) contributed majorly. Quarterly revenues missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1 million.

Research and development (R&D) expenses declined 29% to $8.5 million in the quarter. The downturn was due to the decrease in clinical trial costs as a result of the timing of when the related costs associated with Immune Design’s current clinical trials were incurred. A decrease in in-licensing royalties and fees attributable to the settlement and license agreements with Theravectys in October 2016 and a decline in contract manufacturing costs activities primarily owing to the timing of when services are performed also led to the decline.

General and administrative expenses fell 2.7% to $4.3 million.

Pipeline Update

Immune Design is developing multiple candidates using its discovery platforms — ZVex and GLAAS — in the field of immuno-oncology. Notably, its key pipeline candidates include CMB305 and G100.

Following discussions with the FDA, the company announced plans to initiate a pivotal phase III study to support a Biologics License Application for CMB305 on patients with synovial sarcoma. Progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) will become independent primary endpoints.  Post the success of PFS, the FDA may forward approval. The company plans to initiate the study in mid-2018.

Additionally, the company presented interim analysis of CMB305 Combination Therapy at ASCO in June 2017. Per the analysis, NY-ESO-1⁺ synovial sarcoma or mixoid round cell liposarcoma patients, receiving the combination of CMB305 and Roche Holding AG’s RHHBY Tecentriq, experienced greater clinical benefit in the form of Disease Control Rate (including partial responses), median Progression Free Survival, Time to Next Treatment and immune response compared with those receiving Tecentriq alone.

Meanwhile, CMB305 is being evaluated for soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients as monotherapy and in combination with an anti-PD-L1 antibody. In fact, the company presented CMB305 monotherapy data at ASCO from 25 STS patients with recurrent disease. Per the data, median overall survival (mOS) has not yet been reached in these patients, with an overall survival rate at 12 and 18 months of 83% and 76%, respectively. The company also presented updated data from this study in March 2018. The data showed that with a median follow-up of 17.7 months, a median overall survival (mOS) of 23.7 months has been reached for the whole population but not yet for the synovial sarcoma patient subset.

The company also provided updated data for G100 later in the month. The data showed that with a median follow-up of approximately 12 months, the objective response rate (ORR) in the combination arm (G100+XRT in combination with pembrolizumab) increased from 39-54%, while the ORR of G100+XRT is constant at 15%.

2017 Results

Immune Design reported a loss of $1.75 per share in 2017, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.89 and also the year-ago loss of $2.47.

Total revenues for 2017 were $7.2 million, down from $13.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

2018 Outlook

Immune Design expects cash to fund operations into the second half of 2020.

Immune Design Corp. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Immune Design Corp. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Immune Design Corp. Quote

Zacks Rank & Key Pick

Immune Design carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A better-ranked stock from the same space is Regeneron REGN sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Regeneron’s earnings estimates have inched up from $18.65 to $18.67 and from $21.56 to $21.58 for 2018 and 2019, respectively, in the last 30 days. The company pulled off a positive earnings surprise in three of the last four quarters, with an average beat of 9.15%.

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