Protagonist Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: PTGX) recorded strong gains on Friday and closed the day with gains of 83.70%. This came after the company released its Q1 results, and a corporate update. For the financials, the company reported that its license and collaboration revenues increased to $3.6 million, compared to a similar quarter in 2019 when they stood at $1.6 million.
The company also noted that its research and development expenses for Q1 increased to $18. 8 million, compared to $12.4 million in Q1 of 2019. It attributed this increase to costs related to clinical development for PTG-300 and PTG-200. The company also noted that research and development costs increased due to a collaboration with Janssen Biotech for its IL-23 receptor.
Besides the financials, the company gave a number of project updates. One of them was on results from phase 2 studies on patients suffering from polycythemia Vera. The company noted that initial phase 2 results showed that when PTG-300 was used at doses of 10mg mg to 80mg over 28 weeks, there was improvement. The company also noted that PTG-300 was tolerated well, and that its safety profile was consistent with previous studies. The only adverse effects that were recorded were bruises at the point of needle insertion. The company also noted that PTG-300 phase 2 study will be presented in a medical conference that will take place within Q2 of 2020.
Commenting on the results, CEO Dinesh Patel said that the company had an orphan drug regulatory pathway, and that their focus was on developing PTG-300 as a top non-cytoreductive hepcidin hormone. He added that the company had cut operational expenses, and that it had cash that would run up to the middle of 2022.
Looking at its price action, PTGX is in a breakout. It opened the day at $9.84 and traded between a low of $9.65 and a high of $16.82 before closing at $14.20. Volumes in the day stood at 35.36 million.
About Protagonist Therapeutics Inc
Protagonist Therapeutics Inc is a biopharma company that makes treatments for unmet needs in gastroenterology and hematology. It is based in Newark, California.
