$ESPR Bio - Future catalyst with neutral view

ESPR

Future Catalyst:
October 2018 10/31/2018
Phase 3 data due October, 2018.

Market cap: 1.2B. Float: 24.25M

Company Notes - Negative income, 57 employees, 0 debt, 14% Inst owned, mixed analysis opinion.

50/50 split bulls/bears- I'm suspecting this will continue to bounce a little of its multiple bottom and have some natural longs take this stock up into the catalyst BUT with their history in poor earnings results I expect this to sell off back to the recent support and depending on the results of P3 could be looked at negatively buy investors.

Comment:

Esperion announces completion of Phase 3 LDL-C lowering development program Esperion announced completion of the Phase 3 LDL-C Lowering Development Program of bempedoic acid and positive cumulative results. The program consisted of four, pivotal, Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled studies to evaluate the LDL-C lowering efficacy and safety and tolerability of bempedoic acid 180 mg compared to placebo in high cardiovascular risk patients including atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and/or heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia patients. The Phase 3 program included 3,621 high cardiovascular risk patients taking maximally tolerated statin who required additional LDL-C lowering. The Program achieved its efficacy endpoints and other key measures at 12 weeks for bempedoic acid, including: on-treatment LDL-C lowering of an additional 18% to 31%, and in the intent to treat analysis, LDL-C lowering of an additional 17% to 28%; reductions of 19% to 33% in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, an important marker of the underlying inflammation associated with cardiovascular disease; reductions in hemoglobin A1c of 0.19% to 0.31% versus placebo in the subset of 1002 patients with diabetes. In the Phase 3 program, bempedoic acid was observed to be safe and well-tolerated. The vast majority of patients were studied for 52 weeks. Across the program there were no clinically relevant differences between the bempedoic acid and placebo treatment groups in the occurrence of adverse events with 73% in each group; serious adverse events with 14% and 13%, respectively; SAE neoplasms were balanced at 1% in both arms; discontinuations due to AEs with 11% and 8%, respectively; fatal adverse events were very low overall at 0.8% and 0.3%, respectively.

Comment:

Esperion to hold a conference call Conference call to discuss positive top-line results from the final pivotal Phase 3 Study of Bempedoic Acid will be held on October 29 at 8 am.

Comment:

Esperion reports Q3 net loss $49.9M versus $45.2M in Q3 last year As of September 30, 2018, cash and cash equivalents and investment securities available-for-sale totaled $164.4 million compared with $273.6 million at December 31, 2017.

Read more at:
thefly.com/land...ingPageNews.php?id=2815946...

Comment:

Esperion sees FY18 cash used $135 M-$145M Esperion expects notably lower research and development expenses beginning this quarter due to the completion of the global pivotal Phase 3 LDL-C lowering development program of bempedoic acid and the bempedoic acid / ezetimibe combination pill in October 2018. The company continues to expect full-year 2018 net cash used in operating activities to be approximately $135 to $145 million and its cash and cash equivalents and investment securities to be approximately $130 to $140 million at December 31, 2018. The Company estimates that current cash resources are sufficient to fund operations through the expected approvals of the bempedoic acid / ezetimibe combination pill and bempedoic acid in the first quarter of 2020.

Read more at:
thefly.com/land...ingPageNews.php?id=2815962...

Comment:

twitter is bullish following their lower research costs and significant removal of risk