There is no fundamental reason why Athenex, Inc. (ATNX) stock surged 8.81% in the pre-market trading session at the price of $3.46. The last reported news on the company’s website was about its second-quarter 2021 financial results and corporate updates. ATNX is a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. It discovers, manufactures, and commercializes next-generation drugs to treat cancer.
ATNX Reported Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results
On 5th August 2021, ATNX announced financial results and provided business updates for the second quarter ended on 30th June 2021. The product sales revenue declined to $21.4 million for the three months ended 30th June 2021, from $40.2 million for the same period of the previous year. It represents a decrease of $18.8 million or 47%. This drop was due to $20.4 million reductions in the APD product sales, driven by low COVID-19 related drugs dfrom last year. The license fees and other revenue grew by $0.5 million for the second quarter ended on 30th June 2021. This increase resulted from $0.2 million grant revenue and $0.2 million in royalties received from the sales of Klisyri.
Net loss attributable to ATNX was $34.3 million or ($0.33) per diluted share for the three months ended 30th June 2021. Net loss of $40.5 million or ($0.50) per diluted share, reported in the same quarter of the previous year. The company had cash and cash equivalents of $76.9 million as of 30th June 2021. The short-term investments were $53.3 million during this period, while the restricted cash was $16.5 million.
Additional Licensing Agreements for Tirbanibulin
On 26th July 2021, ATNX published that it had entered into strategic partnerships and licensing agreements with Seqirus Pty Ltd for tirbanibulin. Tirbanibulin is a novel, first-in-class microtubule inhibitor that works on a specific antiproliferative mechanism. As per the agreement, Seqirus will commercialize tirbanibulin in Australia and New Zealand. Likewise, AVIR has an exclusive license to commercialize it in Canada. These added territories will further intensify the global coverage of the marketing and sales of Klisyri to treat actinic keratosis. Currently, ATNX has strategic partnerships for tirbanibulin in the U.S., Europe, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and several other territories.
CEO of ATNX, Dr. Johnson Lau, remarked that their partnerships with Seqirus and AVIR will improve the access of tirbanibulin to patients around the world. Tirbanibulin is approved and launched in the United States to treat actinic keratosis of the face or scalp. The drug provides a short treatment protocol, proven efficacy, and favorable safety profile. It has also received marketing approval from the European Commission. Their expansive partnerships with international companies are significant milestones to optimize the potential value of this drug, he added.
