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Thursday, March 1, 2018

-=Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) reported earnings on Thur 1 March 2018 (a/h)



CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) _ Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (SRPT) on Thursday reported a loss of $24 million in its fourth quarter.

On a per-share basis, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company said it had a loss of 37 cents.

Sales of Sarepta's Exondys 51, a drug to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, came in at $57.3 million, in line with the company's pre-announcement in January, RBC analyst Brian Abrahams said in a note to clients. Research and development expenses of $44.4 million were also in line, he said.

"The company ended the quarter with $1.1 billion cash/equivalents, which we estimate will be sufficient to sustain operations along with revenues for the foreseeable future," he said.

Sarepta also reiterated its 2018 guidance for $295 million to $305 million in Exondys 51 sales, which would represent about 100% year-over-year growth. Abrahams notes this supports a launch trajectory capable of reaching $1.2 billion in peak sales.

Sarepta also seeks to have Exondys 51 approved in Europe, though analysts were split on whether officials would approve the drug. Sarepta is slated to present its argument in late April, Piper Jaffray analyst Edward Tenthoff said in a note. A positive opinion would offer upside, he said.

But it wasn't Exondys 51 that had Sarepta stock popping Friday. Analysts are particularly excited about the potential for golodirsen, a drug being developed to treat about 8% of Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients. Sarepta recently met with the U.S.  Food and Drug Administration to discuss golodirsen.

Golodirsen is being tested in a pivotal trial dubbed Essence. That trial should finish enrolling in April and have data in about two years, Needham analyst Chad Messer said in a note. The trial could possibly serve as a conformational study for golodirsen.

Sarepta is also working on three investigational drugs including two gene therapies. By midyear, the firm plans to report preliminary data from both gene therapy studies, Leerink analyst Michael Schmidt said in his note to clients. These "may provide a glimpse into Sarepta's future."

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