Parnell Pharma Soars on Business Update

Parnell Pharmaceuticals Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: PARN) saw its shares take a sharp uptick into the weekend following a solid business update. The company announced business results for the first quarter of 2016 that included strong revenue growth of 43%, the conclusion of negotiations on a contract manufacturing agreement with a major multinational, the upcoming launch of two new products — Luminous and Reviderm —and receipt of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) response for the two remaining Technical Sections for Zydax for dogs in the United States.

During this quarter, Parnell’s sales growth totaled 43% for the first quarter, over the same period in 2015. Sales grew 10% from last year in the U.S. Production Animal segment, while the sales growth was 83% for the Rest-of-the-World Animal segment.

The company received the FDA’s response to its filings of the Target Animal Effectiveness Technical Section and the Chemistry and Manufacturing Controls Technical Section for Zydax. Parnell expects that adequate responses to the FDA can be prepared and filed by the second quarter, and that a potential approval could be expected by late in the fourth quarter.

Parnell completed its in-licensing of Reviderm in this quarter. Reviderm is a novel antimicrobial liquid bandage for the treatment of wounds on dogs, cats and horses.
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Robert Joseph, president and CEO of Parnell, commented:

Parnell had a fantastic first quarter in 2016 with strong revenue growth across our whole business.  We were particularly pleased with our US Production business which performed above our expectations as did our Australian Companion Animal business.  Our US Companion team continued to establish a strong footprint in the market with Fetch (our digital app) and Glyde (our nutraceutical for osteoarthritis, or OA).  After several months of negotiations we have now agreed upon terms with a major multi-national pharmaceutical company on a contract manufacturing agreement that we expect to sign as early as next week.

So far in 2016, Parnell has underperformed the broad markets, with the stock down 43% (prior to this update). Over the course of the past 52 weeks, the stock is down 47%.

Shares of Parnell traded up 22% to $2.71 on Friday, with a consensus analyst price target of $18.30 and a 52-week trading range of $1.34 to $5.98.