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Deciphera (DCPH) Q1 Loss Narrower Than Expected, Revenues Beat

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Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reported a loss of $1.06 per share for first-quarter 2021, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.08 and the year-ago quarter’s loss of $1.36.

Total net revenues were $25.1 million for the quarter, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $23 million. Total revenues included $20 million of revenues from Qinlock and $5.2 million of collaboration revenues. Sales of Qinlock in the United States were $19.3 million and ex-U.S. sales of Qinlock were $0.7 million.

Shares of the company have lost 29.3% in the year so far compared with the industry’s decline of 5.9%.

Quarter in Details

In May 2020, Qinlock was approved by the FDA for the treatment of adult patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) who have received prior treatment with three or more kinase inhibitors, including imatinib.

Research and development expenses were $55.7 million, up from $51.4 million primarily due to personnel and preclinical costs in the year-ago quarter.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $30.7 million, up from $23.9 million in the year-ago quarter due to personnel costs as well as external spend related to professional fees, including those associated with establishing a targeted commercial infrastructure in key European markets to support a potential launch of Qinlock in Europe, if approved.

Pipeline Update

Deciphera plans to initiate a phase I/IIb study of QINLOCK in combination with Mektovi (binimetinib), an approved MEK inhibitor, to address one of the potential mechanisms of resistance to kinase inhibition, reactivation of the MAPK pathway, in post-imatinib GIST patients.

The company completed enrollment in the INTRIGUE phase III study evaluating the efficacy and safety of Qinlock compared to Pfizer’s (PFE - Free Report) Sutent (sunitinib) in patients with second-line GIST. Top-line results for this study are expected in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Our Take

The initial uptake of Qinlock has been encouraging and the company is working to expand access to this medicine globally. The successful results of the INTRIGUE study (expected later in the year) will broaden the targeted market further (larger, second-line patient population).

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Deciphera currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked stocks in the healthcare space are Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IRWD - Free Report) and Pacira BioSciences (PCRX - Free Report) , which currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Earnings estimates for Ironwood Pharmaceuticals moved up 2 cents for 2021 in the past 30 days.

Earnings estimates for Pacira rose 6 cents for 2021 in the past 30 days.

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