Biopharmaceutical company Immunomedics Inc. said Monday its profit quadrupled in the fiscal third quarter, as it received more payments from partner Nycomed.
Immunomedics said it earned $3.5 million, or 5 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31. That compares with $758,000, or a penny per share, a year earlier. Its revenue rose 29 percent, to $10.7 million from $8.3 million.
The two analysts reporting to Thomson Reuters expected Immunomedics to lose 2 cents per share on $5.7 million in revenue.
During the third quarter, Nycomed made a $5 million milestone payment to the company after starting a clinical trial of Immunomedics' drug candidate veltuzumab as a treatment for immune thrombocytopenic purpura, a bleeding disorder. Immunomedics received a total of $8.9 million from Nycomed in the quarter.
The company said its results were also boosted by an income tax benefit and gains on the sale of auction-rate securities.
Immunomedics said that by the end of 2010, it plans to start a mid-stage trial of an injectable form of veltuzumab as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. It will also study the drug against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma if it can secure enough funding.
Among other drug candidates, the company is also testing an experimental drug called epratuzumab as a treatment for lupus and cancer.
With stocks rising in morning trading, Immunomedics shares gained 19 cents, or 6 percent, to $3.36.