Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (NASDAQ: RIGL) is a biotechnology company dedicated to discovering, developing and providing novel small molecule drugs that significantly improve the lives of patients with immune and hematologic disorders, cancer and rare diseases. Rigel’s pioneering research focuses on signaling pathways that are critical to disease mechanisms. The company’ lead product TAVALISSE, is an oral spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) inhibitor that targets the underlying autoimmune cause of the disease by impeding platelet destruction.

 

 

On Aug. 8, 2018, the company reported financial results for the second quarter of 2018 and provided an update on the commercial launch of TAVALISSE™ and the clinical development pipeline.

Recent Highlights:

• On May 29, Rigel launched TAVALISSE™ (fostamatinib disodium hexahydrate) for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) who have had an insufficient response to previous treatment.
• The TAVALISSE commercial team, at over 50 employees strong, is fully deployed and supporting ITP-prescribing physicians across the United States.
• RIGEL ONECARE™, Rigel’s comprehensive physician, and patient support center is assisting patients with access to TAVALISSE through insurance coverage and other patient support programs.

As per management, the second quarter of 2018 marked Rigel’s pivotal transition to a commercial stage company with the successful launch of TAVALISSE. The company is now aggressively communicating TAVALISSE’s attractive value proposition to patients, physicians, and payers: namely, its unique mechanism of action that targets an underlying cause of the disease, efficacy, oral dosing, safety profile, and comprehensive patient support and access programs.

Furthermore, beyond executing on its goal of making TAVALISSE a commercial success in chronic ITP following steroid treatment, the company continues to make impressive pipeline progress that it expects will fully leverage the commercial capabilities it now has in place. The management looks forward to providing a comprehensive corporate and pipeline update at its upcoming Investor and Analyst Day, which will be held in New York City this fall.

 

Upcoming Catalysts:

In the second quarter, Rigel continued to support the investigation of fostamatinib for other serious, autoimmune conditions including autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) and IgA nephropathy (IgAN). The fall of 2018 expects updates regarding pivotal programs in both indications.

 

Analysts tracking the stock believe that the company has made incredible progress in the recent past and the second half of 2018 holds great potential for the company. In fact, the efficient and timely commercialization of TAVALISSE for chronic ITP represents a huge milestone for Rigel and allows the company to rapidly advance its efforts to bring this therapy to a vast patient population, who are in dire need of treatment options.  In addition to the commercialization of TAVALISSE, RIGL also completed significant financing for the company which furthered its runway substantially.

As per www.marketbeat.com, The average twelve-month price target on RIGL is $8.41, suggesting potential upside of 162.20%. The high price target for RIGL is $10.00, and the low-price target for RIGL is $7.00. There are currently six buy ratings for the stock, resulting in a consensus rating of “Buy.

 

Below are the excerpts of recent analyst rating on the stock:

source: www.marketbeat.com

 

About the company: The company’s first FDA approved product is TAVALISSE™ (fostamatinib disodium hexahydrate), an oral spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) inhibitor, for the treatment of adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia who have had an insufficient response to previous treatment. Rigel’s current clinical programs include Phase 2 studies of fostamatinib in autoimmune hemolytic anemia and IgA nephropathy. Besides, Rigel has product candidates in development with partners BerGenBio AS, Daiichi Sankyo, and Aclaris Therapeutics.

 

Pipeline:

 

Second Quarter 2018 Results:

In thousands (except per share amount)

 

• Revenues: For the second quarter of 2018, Rigel reported net product sales from TAVALISSE of $1.8 million. The Company recognizes revenue using the sell-in methodology when products are delivered to its distributors. TAVALISSE was made available by prescription for the treatment of chronic ITP on May 29, 2018.  There were no product sales or contract revenues from collaborations in the second quarter of 2017.
• Net Loss: For the second quarter of 2018, Rigel reported a net loss of $25.6 million, or $0.16 per share, compared to a net loss of $19.1 million, or $0.16 per share, in the same period of 2017.
• Liquidity and financial flexibility: As of June 30, 2018, Rigel had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $135.0 million, compared to $115.8 million as of December 31, 2017. Rigel expects that its cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments will be sufficient to support its current and projected funding requirements, including the on-going commercial launch of TAVALISSE for chronic ITP in the U.S., into the fourth quarter of 2019.

 

 

 

Key risk factors and potential stock drivers:

• Successful completion of the upcoming milestones would lead future direction for the company. Any adversities related to these forthcoming milestones might adversely impact the overall investor sentiments.
• RIGL is still an early stage entity and prospects are significantly dependent on TAVALISSE. Less than expected sales numbers in Q3’18 from Tavalisse could upset the investor’s sentiments.
• Furthermore, fostamatinib is still away from commercialization.
• RIGL has a history of operating losses. Therefore, any time or cost overrun in its ongoing R&D activities and its impact on business & financial profile will remain a key business sensitivity factor.

 

Stock Chart:

Comments:

• On Wednesday, August 29th, 2018, RIGL is trading at $3.21, on an average volume of 2.0 million shares exchanging hands. Market capitalization is $523.214 million. The current RSI is at 64.52
• In the past 52 weeks, shares of RIGL have traded as low as $2.28 and as high as $4.71
• At $3.21, shares of RIGL are trading above its 50-day moving average (MA) at $2.89 and below its 200-day moving average (MA) at $3.59
• The present support and resistance levels for the stock are at $2.83 & $3.51 respectively.

 

 

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