Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (RIGL) is down 12.83% in the current-market trading session at the price of $3.60 after the announcement of COVID-19 updates.
Updates on COVID-19 Program
On 13th August 2021, RIGL declared that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had notified it about the insufficiency of clinical data submitted in May to treat hospitalized patients of COVID-19 for an emergency use authorization (EUA). However, FDA informed in their feedback that they would be devoted to working with Rigel in the development of fostamatinib for COVID-19. The company now is conducting a Phase-3 clinical trial examining fostamatinib in hospitalized patients of COVID-19.
CEO Raul Rodriguez remarked that with the spread of new virus variants and increment in vaccination rates, a need for therapies to treat hospitalized patients, particularly those suffering from hyper inflammatory COVID-19, will remain elevated. The Rigel team keeps focusing on Phase-3 clinical trial, which they expect to complete by the end of this year. They look forward to delivering further secure and efficient data from this trial of fostamatinib. Moreover, they plan to resubmit the EUA application with additional data after the successful trial, he added.
RIGL Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results
On 3rd August 2021, RIGL announced financial results for the second quarter ended on 30th June 2021. The company has also reported about sales of TAVALISSE tablets. These drugs are used to treat adults with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).
For the second quarter of 2021, Rigel disclosed a net loss of $13.8 million or $0.08 per basic and diluted share. A net loss of $17.6 million, or $0.10 per basic and diluted share, was reported for the same period of 2020.
Total revenue in the Q2 of 2021 was $26.3 million. It included $17.1 million in TAVALISSE net product sales, $3.7 million in contract revenues from collaborations, and $5.5 million in government contract revenue. TAVALISSE net product sales were $17.1 million in the second quarter of 2021, improved by 14% from $15.0 million for the same quarter of 2020.
Rigel reported a net income of $25.7 million or $0.15 per basic and diluted share in the six months ended 30th June 2021. A net income of $3.7 million or $0.02 per basic and diluted share was reported for the same period of 2020.
CEO Raul Rodriguez commented that Rigel becomes well-positioned to enforce numerous key milestones. They have the potential to be important inflection points for the company, he added. After the demand for clinical products has soared, they started expanding their commercial team to make large revenue, he further added.
