Shares in pSivida (NSDQ:PSDV) fell 6% today after the company missed expectations on Wall Street with its fiscal 1st-quarter results*.
The Watertown, Mass.-based company posted losses of -$7.2 million, or -21¢ per share, on sales of $277,000 for the 3 months ended Sept. 30, for a bottom-line loss of -47% on a -41% sales decline, compared with the same period last year.
Losses per share of -21¢ came in 2¢ behind consensus on The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $300,000.
“Since joining the company in mid-September, I have been working with our team to assess the impressive clinical and commercial potential of our pipeline that is largely based on pSivida’s proven Durasert sustained drug release technology, the only intraocular sustained release technology with approval of three different products,” president & CEO Nancy Lurker said in prepared remarks. “We’ve made significant progress on a number of fronts and I’m even more excited about the potential for pSivida to make a true difference in patients’ lives while we build returns to our shareholders. Our assessment reaffirmed the clear strength and quality of clinical data from studies of our Durasert 3-year treatment for posterior segment uveitis (formerly known as Medidur) and we remain focused on preparing our submission for approval of this product candidate in both the European Union and U.S. during 2017. We’ve also begun a thorough examination of how to most efficiently and effectively launch the Durasert 3-year uveitis product in the U.S. while we actively explore partnership possibilities to address patients with a similar diagnosis in Europe.
“Our review also resulted in our management team deploying more focus on lower-risk and nearer-term market opportunities, as well as a renewed emphasis on potential collaborations for our Durasert technology and implementation of improvements to our product candidate evaluations. Since joining, we have continued to advance our uveitis clinical program and have reprioritized our development programs. These now include a next-generation Durasert bio-erodible, shorter-duration treatment for posterior segment uveitis, increased emphasis on Durasert for severe osteoarthritis of the knee in conjunction with HSS, and continued work on our Durasert tyrosine kinase inhibitor program for wet AMD. We also continue to pursue our Tethadur platform for large molecules,” Lurker added.
PSDV shares were trading at $1.98 apiece today in mid-afternoon trading, down -4.4%.
* Correction, Feb. 22, 2017: Updated Feb. 22 to reflect the correct fiscal quarter.↩
