Good guess on my part, now REALLY glad I didn't get filled:
>>NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) - InterMune Inc. (NasdaqNM:ITMN - News) on Thursday said it was yanking its earlier sales forecasts for the company and its flagship medicine, pushing shares down 14 percent in after-hours trade.
The biotechnology company warned that "as a result of changing market dynamics" it was removing the revenue forecast it issued in late January on Actimmune, its drug designed to spur the immune system. InterMune said it was also removing its revenue guidance for the entire company.
InterMune said the patient referral rate for the drug during the first quarter was "significantly lower than expected."
InterMune had previously forecast 2004 company revenue of $150 million to $180 million, with Actimmune sales of $130 million to $155 million.
The drug, which is a form of the immune-system protein interferon, is used to treat children with several rare life-threatening congenital diseases. The company also sells drugs that treat fungal infections and hepatitis C.
The company, which gave the warning in a release announcing its first-quarter earnings, said it expects to issue new revenue forecasts by the time it reports second-quarter results.
The Brisbane, California-based company posted a net loss of $11.7 million, or 37 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $18.9 million, or 60 cents, in the same period a year ago.
It said its first-quarter loss narrowed largely as a result of reduced research and development spending to $18.3 million from $31.9 million a year ago.
The company said it lost 27 cents per share excluding special items. On that basis, analysts on average had forecast a loss of 48 cents per share, according to a poll by Reuters Research, a unit of Reuters Group Plc.
Shares of InterMune fell to $15.51 in after-hours trade, from their closing price of $18.01 on the Nasdaq. <<
Rather negative slant, in that longer duration of therapy was not noted here.
Cheers, Tuck |
