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Mirati (MRTX) Stock Dips on Wider-Than-Expected Q2 Loss

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Mirati Therapeutics’ shares fell 8% on Aug 6, after the company reported second-quarter loss of $3.23 per share, which was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $2.41 and the year-ago loss of $1.89.

Given the absence of any marketed products and revenue-generating collaborations, the company did not record any revenues during the quarter, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

In the year so far, Mirati’s shares have declined 31% against the industry’s growth of 1.8%.

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Quarter in Detail

Research and development expenses rose 106.7% from the prior-year quarter to $134.6 million due to an increase in development expenses of adagrasib and preclinical as well as early discovery activities and other employee-related expenses.

General and administrative expenses rose 49.7% from the year-ago quarter to $29.6 million due to an increase in sponsorship agreement expenses and higher employee-related costs in the quarter.

Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments as of Jun 30, 2021 were $1.2 billion in comparison with $1.3 billion on Mar 31, 2021.

Pipeline Update

The company’s clinical pipeline consists of two key candidates: adagrasib (MRTX849), a KRASG12C inhibitor, and sitravatinib, a multi-kinase inhibitor.

Adagrasib

In June 2021, adagrasib was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by FDA to treat non-small cell lung cancer (“NSCLC”) patients with KRASG12C mutation, following prior systemic therapy. The company anticipates submission of a new drug application for adagrasib in fourth-quarter 2021 to treat second-line NSCLC with KRASG12C mutation.

Enrolment is also ongoing in other key cohorts of the above study, which is evaluating adagrasib plus Merck’s (MRK - Free Report) Keytruda for first-line NSCLC and adagrasib + Erbitux for second-line colorectal cancer (CRC). Further, enrolment is underway in the phase I/II combination study of adagrasib with Novartis' (NVS - Free Report) SHP2 inhibitor TNO155 for advanced NSCLC and CRC.

In 2021, two randomized registration-enabling phase III studies were initiated to evaluate adagrasib + Bristol-Myers’ (BMY - Free Report) Erbitux in patients with second-line CRC and a confirmatory study was conducted to evaluate adagrasib as a monotherapy randomized against docetaxel in second-line NSCLC. Data from the adagrasib +Erbitux study is expected to be presented in second-half 2021.

The company initiated a phase I/Ib study (KRYSTAL-014) in July 2021 to evaluate the combination of adagrasib with Boehringer Ingelheim's SOS1 inhibitor (BI 1701963) in patients with solid tumors that harbor the KRASG12C mutation.

In June 2021, Mirati out-licensed rights for adagrasib to Zai Labs in Greater China.

Sitravatinib

Sitravatinib has been designed to selectively target a spectrum of tyrosine kinases involved in both tumor growth and the suppression of immune responses to tumors. Mirati anticipates to provide updates from the currently enrolling phase III SAPPHIRE study in second-half 2022. The study will evaluate sitravatinib with Bristol Myers’ Opdivo in second or third line non-squamous NSCLC.

Zacks Rank

Mirati currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.


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