Dicerna Q2 Results Miss Estimates; Shares Slip 12.6%

Shares of Dicerna Pharma (DRNA) declined 12.6% on Monday and closed at $23.83 after the company reported lower-than-expected Q2 results. The biopharmaceutical company engages in the discovery and development of treatments for rare diseases, chronic liver diseases, cardiovascular disease and viral liver infectious diseases.

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The company reported a net loss of $0.53 per share in the second quarter, which came much below analysts’ estimates of $0.41 per share.

Its revenues of $41.3 million grew 2.2% year-over-year but lagged the consensus estimates of $44.4 million. Rise in Lilly, Novo, and BI revenues were largely offset by decreases in Roche and Alexion revenues. (See Dicerna stock charts on TipRanks)

The company incurred research and development expenses worth $56.1 million, compared to $53.4 million a year ago. The upside can be attributed to the increase in facilities and other expenses, including employee-related costs.

The President and CEO of Dicerna, Douglas Fambrough (Ph.D.), said, “We intend to pursue commercial out-licensing opportunities to help ensure global access to nedosiran, subject to necessary approvals.”

“This approach will allow us to deploy our capital and talent on our discovery and development pipeline efforts with our GalXC and GalXC-Plus™ RNAi investigational therapeutics for ourselves and our partners. With these strategic adjustments focused on our core strengths, we can extend our cash runway into 2025,” he added.

Following the results, SVB Leerink analyst Mani Foroohar maintained a Buy rating on Dicerna and lowered the price target to $34 from $47. The new price target implies 51.2% upside potential.

The stock has a Moderate Buy consensus based on 7 Buys and 4 Holds. The average Dicerna price target of $34.22 implies 52.5% upside potential from current levels.

DRNA scores a 9 out of 10 on TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, suggesting that the stock is likely to Outperform market averages.