Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ:TKMR) shares jumped 3.37% to $15.63 in early trading Thursday ahead of its quarterly results. The Canadian biopharmaceutical company is scheduled to report its fiscal third-quarter results on Thursday, Nov.6 aft 5:00 EST. Tekmira is under pressure to meet lofty investor expectations. The stock has rallied more than 92% year-to-date.
Tekmira’s losses expected to narrow down in Q3
Analysts on average expect the company’s Q3 losses to narrow from 40 cents last year to 31 cents. Tekmira’s revenue is expected to increase 26% YoY to $3.70 million. For the full-year 2014, analysts are projecting $14.44 million in revenue, down 6.6% from $15.5 million last year. Net loss is expected to increase from $0.92 a share to $1.68 per share.
Tekmira has been in the spotlight due to its Ebola candidate that specifically targets the Guinea strain of the deadly virus that has killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa. Supplies of its new therapy will be available by December. The company is developing its Ebola candidate under a $140 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense. Tekmira is also developing treatments for cancer and Hepatitis-B.
How Tekmira generates revenue
In the second quarter this year, Tekmira missed on both sales and earnings expectations. The company generated $1.8 million in revenue, missing the consensus estimate of $3.69 million. Its net loss came in at 28 cents, wider than analysts’ projection of 25 cents a share in losses. The company generates revenue through R&D and by licensing its technologies.
At the earnings call, investors expect the Burnaby-based company to provide details of its Ebola program. FDA has approved the use of Tekmira’s TKM-Ebola on confirmed and suspected Ebola patients. The drug has already successfully treated many patients. TKM-Ebola has also been chosen as a candidate for human trials in West Africa. Results from these trials should help the company strengthen its argument to get the “partial clinical hold” remove by FDA.
Investors believe Tekmira’s drug is one of the most promising therapies for the deadly virus. Tekmira shares were up 1.92% to $15.41 at 10:47 AM EST on Thursday.
