Shares in Bellerophon Therapeutics (NSDQ:BLPH) fell today even though the company beat expectations on Wall Street with its second quarter results.
The Warren, N.J.-based company posted a net loss of -$3.9 million with no sales for the 3 months ended June 30, for bottom-line growth of 23% compared with the same period last year.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were -12¢, ahead of consensus on The Street.
“We continue to be encouraged with the progress of our Phase III clinical program in PAH, as well as Phase II programs in pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In our INOvation-1 Phase III trial in PAH, we have now initiated 100 sites in 16 countries with around 50 patients already randomized,” CEO Fabian Tenenbaum said in prepared remarks. “We anticipate reporting top line results for this trial in 2018.”
“We are also encouraged by the results of our Phase IIa PH-IPF study which were presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference in late May, and which showed a statistically significant increase in pulmonary blood vessel volume, correlating with the best ventilated areas of the lung. We have since received FDA acceptance of our IND and Phase IIb study and look forward to initiating the trial around the end of the year. There are currently no therapies to treat pulmonary hypertension in IPF and other ILDs and we believe that inhaled nitric oxide delivered by means of the INOpulse delivery system is uniquely positioned to provide targeted delivery without the systemic concerns of other therapies. In COPD we also presented favorable interim results of our Phase II study in PH-COPD, which showed targeted vasodilation and a clinically relevant decrease in the pulmonary pressure. We expect to communicate top line results of this study in the near future,” Tenenbaum added.
BLPH shares were trading at $1.16 apiece today in afternoon activity, down -7%.
