Onconova Therapeutics jumps after increasing revenue and cash last year

Shares of Onconova Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ONTX) rose Tuesday after the cancer-focused biopharmaceutical company added to its cash pile and increased its revenue last year as it made progress in advancing its flagship drug Rigosertib, which treats myelodysplastic syndromes, a group of blood cancers.

Looking ahead to 2019, Dr. Steven Fruchtman, CEO of Onconova, says that the company will recruit for its Phase 3 IV rigosertib trial to treat patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome and also advance its work toward a key Phase 3 trial for rigosertib in combination with azacytidine.

Investors applauded the news, sending Onconova shares up 2.4% to $4.23 before the opening bell.

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In other advances, the Newton, Pennsylvania company struck a license agreement with Pint Pharma to commercialize rigosertib in Latin America which includes an investment of up to $2.5 million by Pint Pharma and up to $42.75 million in milestones.

The company’s drug ON 123300, a dual inhibitor of CDK4/6 + ARK5 which has the potential to treat a variety of cancers, is also moving towards clinical development as part of a partnership with HanX Biopharmaceuticals, the company’s greater China collaborator. HanX has been manufacturing the compound and started toxicology studies in preparation for the filing of an investigational new drug application in the first half of this year.

“This year was a period of important progress for Onconova, as we advanced our clinical pipeline, strengthened our balance sheet and senior leadership team, advanced our business development activities and expanded our intellectual property estate,” said Dr. Fruchtman in a statement. 

Onconova added to its cash pile last year, with cash and cash equivalents climbing to $17 million as of December, up from $4 million at the year-ago marker. The company’s yearly revenue jumped 56% to $1.2 million from $787,000 in 2017, thanks partly to collaboration agreements reached in the first half of last year.

Its annual net loss, meanwhile, shrunk to $20.4 million from $24 million at the end of 2017.

Research and development expenses also swung lower to $16.9 million at the close of December 2018 from $19.1 million at the end of 2017.

Onconova is a Phase 3-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecule drug candidates to treat cancer, with a primary focus on myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

Contact Ellen Kelleher at [email protected]

Story by ProactiveInvestors