SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCLN)
SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SCLN), a specialty pharmaceutical company announced positive third quarter 2015 financial results on Monday. SCLN reported revenues of $42.9 million up 25% from third quarter 2014. SCLN reported Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.26 up from $0.17 from third quarter 2014.
SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CEO Comments
Friedhelm Blobel, PhD, SciClone’s Chief Executive Officer commented:
“We are very pleased with the continued growth of our core business in the third quarter, and our cumulative performance for the year. For the third quarter of 2015, both overall revenue as well as ZADAXIN revenue grew significantly: overall revenue grew 25%, and ZADAXIN revenue grew 22% compared to the same period last year. ZADAXIN continues to be a major growth driver for our company – a trend that we anticipate continuing and building upon in the coming years. We are excited that in the third quarter, we initiated sales of our oncology product, DC Bead, for liver cancer. As anticipated, these initial sales are not yet a meaningful contributor to our revenue. We are pleased with this milestone achievement, and look forward to building DC Bead’s performance.”
“Our continued strong performance is especially encouraging in light of our goal to grow in line with, or exceed, the growth rate of the overall China pharmaceuticals market. Industry analysts have noted that the China pharma market growth is lower compared to 2014, but it is still quite robust, with predictions of 9-10% growth in 2015. While the growth rate is being affected by overall macroeconomic trends, as well as the government’s continued ambitious roll-out of healthcare reform policies, our view of the market remains quite positive.”
“We believe we are well equipped to continue to manage the challenges of the evolving China pharma market. Our reputation for high quality products and commercial execution is strong, as are our industry relationships with partners and suppliers. Our market success with ZADAXIN and our current partners’ products, and our commitment to compliance, support our standing and competitive positioning as a partner-of-choice in the China pharma market.” PR Newswire
SCLN Technical Analysis
SCLN gapped up in price yesterday to $9.51, up from the prior day’s close of $7.99, which is a 19% increase on the favorable news. Taking a look at the daily chart, we can see the last time SCLN traded above this price level was on July 27th, when it closed at $9.55. Taking a further look back at the daily chart we can see SCLN had a big spike up back on the first week of July when it jumped from $9.00 all the way to the 52 week high price of $11.71. After that SCLN has been on a steady decline dropping all the way to its 52 week low price of $6.47 reached on September 28th. However, SCLN has bounced of those lows and is in the midst of making another run up. SCLN does have a float of 45.11 million shares and traded over 3 times the normal daily trading volume. SCLN did reach pre market highs of $10.25, but gave back $0.74 at the open, or equivalent to 7%. For trading purposes, my entry point would have been $9.60 looking for a run through $10. My stop loss would have been $9.40, fearing anything below that and the stock would start to fill in the gap up.
Company Profile
SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, provides therapies for oncology, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular disorders in the Peoples Republic of China, the United States, and Hong Kong. Its lead product is ZADAXIN, which is used for the treatment of hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses, and certain cancers, as well as for use as a vaccine adjuvant, and as a chemotherapy adjuvant for cancer patients with weakened immune systems. The company also focuses on development ZADAXIN for the treatment of sepsis. ZADAXIN has approval in approximately 30 countries, which include China, the Pacific Rim, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East regions. The company markets and sells ZADAXIN through distribution arrangements, local importers, and distributors. In addition, it markets approximately seven partnered products in China, including Aggrastat, an interventional cardiology product. Further, the company holds license, promotion, distribution, or marketing agreements with various parties for products, including DC Bead, Holoxan, Mesna, Endoxan, Methotrexate, Estracyt, Farlutal, Neucardin, ProFlow, Angiomax, and Cleviprex. SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. also has an agreement with MEDA Pharma GmbH & Co. KG for the development of Tramadol. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Foster City, California. Yahoo Finance
