=Esperion Therapeutics (ESPR) reported earnings on Wed 22 Feb 2017 (b/o)

Esperion Therapeutics misses by $0.05; provides update, gives cash outlook :

• Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $1.29 per share, $0.05 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($1.24).
• Upcoming Milestones
  • February 2017:
    • Initiation of the open-label extension study of the global pivotal Phase 3 long-term safety and tolerability study (Study 1) to collect additional safety data. All patients in the open-label extension study will receive bempedoic acid.
  • March 2017:
    • Initiation of the Phase 2 "triplet oral therapy" study of bempedoic acid to further explore the complementary oral LDL-C lowering of bempedoic acid, ezetimibe and atorvastatin.
    • Brian A. Ference, M.D., M.Phil, M.Sc., F.A.C.C., Associate Professor of Medicine, Wayne State University School of Medicine, will present "Genetic Target Validation for ATP Citrate Lyase Inhibition" at the upcoming American College of Cardiology 66th Annual Scientific Session.
• "Our focus in 2017 will be on the timely completion of patient enrollment of these LDL-C lowering efficacy studies to enable us to report top-line results by mid-2018. We are encouraged by the early completion of patient enrollment in our long-term safety and tolerability study in January, and remain focused on completing patient enrollment across the remaining global pivotal Phase 3 studies."
• As of December 31, 2016, cash and cash equivalents and investment securities available-for-sale totaled $242.5 million compared with $292.6 million at December 31, 2015. Esperion expects full-year 2017 net cash used in operating activities to be approximately $125 to $135 million and its cash and cash equivalents and investment securities to be approximately $105 to $115 million at December 31, 2017. The Company estimates that current cash resources are sufficient to fund operations into early 2019 and through the announcement of top-line results from all global pivotal Phase 3 safety and efficacy studies.