Shares in Cerus (NSDQ:CERS) fell today despite the company beating expectations on Wall Street with its second quarter results.
The Concord, Calif.-based company posted a net loss of -$17.1, or -16¢ per share, on sales of $9.5 million for the 3 months ended June 30, for bottom-line growth of 6% on sales growth of 3% compared with the same period last year.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were -16¢, in line with consensus on The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $9.1 million.
“Our expanded supply agreement with the EFS, along with record platelet sales in the second quarter, provides us with increasing clarity for our revenue ramp for the coming quarters,” president & CEO William Greenman said in prepared remarks. “And while we have experienced challenges in our U.S. commercial rollout, the strength of our partnership with the American Red Cross and other large blood centers in the U.S. gives us confidence in the continued adoption of Intercept Platelets.”
Cerus said it expects to post sales of $40 million to $46 million for the full year.
CERS shares were trading at $2.28 apiece today in morning activity, down -6.2%.
In May, Cerus said that it expects a U.S. supply shortage of Fresenius Kabi’s (NYSE:FMS) platelet additive solution will impact blood centers that use PAS to produce Intercept platelets.
The pending shortage is due to “an unanticipated delay” in FDA approval of a plastic component used to manufacture the PAS container. The original component was discontinued by Fresenius Kabi’s supplier, the company reported.
In the U.S., Intercept platelets can be made in a mixture of PAS and plasma on platelets collected using the Amicus apheresis platform.
Fresenius Kabi said it is working with its suppliers and the federal regulatory watchdog to resolve the delay.
