Cubist Pharma Q1 Profit Surges

(RTTNews) - Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CBST) reported Tuesday a profit for the first quarter that soared from last year, reflecting double-digit revenue growth. Adjusted earnings per share also came in above analysts' expectations, while quarterly sales missed their estimates.

The Lexington, Massachusetts-based company reported net income of $24.23 million or $0.30 per share for the first quarter, higher than $6.09 million or $0.09 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the quarter was $7.80 million or $0.10 per share, compared to $26.17 million or $0.34 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, 14 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report breakeven per share results for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Net revenues for the quarter grew 14 percent to $261.23 million from $229.93 million in the same quarter last year, but missed seventeen Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $285.24 million.

Total U.S. net product revenues grew to $240,46 million from $213,25 million, and international net product revenues increased to $17,03 million from $12,40 million in the year-ago quarter.

Total antibiotic drug Cubicin (daptomycin for injection) net product revenues in the U.S grew 5 percent to $212.2 million from last year. International sales of Cubicin increased to $16.4 million from $12.4 million in the same quarter a year ago.

Net product revenues for Entereg (alvimopan) increased 24 percent to $13.9 million from last year.

U.S. Dificid (fidaxomicin) net product revenues were $14.4 million, down from $16.6 million in the same quarter last year, which were recorded by Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. prior to Cubist's acquisition of Optimer in October 2013.

Last month, the U.S. FDA's anti-infective drugs advisory committee (AIDAC) recommended by a vote of 14-0 approval of the company's investigational antibiotic Sivextro (tedizolid phosphate) for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections. The Sivextro NDA was accepted for priority review by the FDA with an action date of June 20.

On April 21, Cubist submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the FDA for approval of its investigational antibiotic ceftolozane/tazobactam in complicated urinary tract and complicated intra-abdominal infections. The Company plans to submit a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in these indications in the second half of 2014.

The company noted that it now has the potential for two promising antibiotic candidates to be approved in the U.S. in 2014.

"We have also made great progress on the build-out of our European commercial organization. We have never been more committed, nor better positioned, to arm physicians and their patients across the globe with new treatment options to fight the rising tide of serious and life-threatening pathogens," CEO Michael Bonney said in a statement.

CBST closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $68.20, up $3.06 or 4.70% on a volume of 0.95 million shares.