Shares in Novocure (NSDQ:NVCR) rose nearly 30% yesterday after the medical device maker met expectations on Wall Street with its 3rd-quarter results.
The St. Helier, N.J.-based company pared its losses by -29% to -$33.6 million, or -39¢ per share, on sales of $21.7 million for the 3 months ended Sept. 30, for sales growth of 142% compared with the same period last year.
Novocure said expenses rose 41% to $38.8 million compared with Q3 2015, with a 78% jump in sales & marketing expenses to $15.9 million.
The consensus estimate for losses per share was -42¢ on Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $21.1 million.
“We saw year-over-year and sequential growth in the 3rd quarter across all key operating statistics and in revenue, and I am pleased with the progress we have made in bringing Optune to patients who have such a vital need for improved treatment options,” CEO Asaf Danziger said in prepared remarks. “Given what is at stake for patients with glioblastoma, we are relentless in our efforts to increase awareness, earn acceptance and drive adoption.”
“An additional 14 million lives were placed under insurance coverage in the third quarter, bringing the total number of covered lives to 130 million in the United States as of September 30, 2016,” Danziger added. “Importantly, as of today, we have also negotiated contracts to establish Optune as an in-network benefit for more than 120 million lives, including agreements with 2 of the 3 largest health plans in the U.S., to become effective during the 4th quarter or 2016.”
“Looking beyond glioblastoma, preclinical and clinical evidence shows that the mechanism of action of Tumor Treating Fields can have broad applicability across a variety of solid tumors,” chairman William Doyle said. “We made good progress in the 3rd quarter to advance our clinical pipeline and now have 3 ongoing Phase II pilot trials in pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer and mesothelioma and 1 ongoing Phase III pivotal trial in brain metastases. We look forward to sharing new data at our R&D day planned for December 12, 2016.”
NVCR shares were trading at $7.20 apiece today in early-morning trading, down -0.7% after climbing 27% from $5.98 to $7.60 apiece yesterday.
The company also said today that United Healthcare will cover Optune as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of glioblastoma effective Jan. 1, 2017. United Healthcare covers nearly 45 million people. As of the 1st of next year, more than 177 million Americans will have coverage for Optune, its portable, noninvasive device that delivers electrical fields to interrupt cancer cell division, according to the company.