Beam Therapeutics Inc. BEAM incurred a loss of $1.17 per share in the third quarter of 2024, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.13. The company had recorded a loss of $1.22 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Total revenues, comprising license and collaboration revenues, came in at $14.3 million in the third quarter compared with $17.2 million reported in the year-ago period. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15 million.

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More on BEAM's Q3 Results

Research and development expenses were $94.3 million in the third quarter, down almost 5.8% from the year-ago quarter’s level.

General and administrative expenses totaled $26.5 million, increasing around 4.3% year over year.

As of Sept 30, 2024, BEAM had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities worth $925.8 million compared with $1.2 billion as of June 30, 2024. The company expects that its existing cash balance is likely to fund its operating expenses into 2027.

Year to date, shares of Beam Therapeutics have declined 12% compared with the industry’s decrease of 3.8%.

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BEAM's Pipeline Updates

The company is developing its leading ex-vivo genome-editing candidate, BEAM-101, in the phase I/II BEACON study for the treatment of adult patients with sickle cell disease (SCD).

To date, more than 35 patients have been enrolled in the BEACON study investigating BEAM-101 for the treatment of SCD. Of these, eight patients have been dosed with BEAM-101 in the study.

On the third-quarter conference call, management stated that the initial data from the BEACON study supported the potential for meaningful clinical differentiation of BEAM-101 as compared to currently available treatments for SCD.

Per the company, preliminary data as of July 2, 2024, suggested that the initial safety profile of BEAM-101 was consistent with busulfan conditioning and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

However, one patient died four months after being treated with BEAM-101 due to respiratory failure. The FDA and the Data Safety Monitoring Committee reviewed the case. The patient's death was likely related to busulfan conditioning and was deemed not related to BEAM-101.

This might have impressed investors and resulted in the stock to rise in pre-market trading on Nov. 6.

Detailed data from the study is expected to be presented at a scientific conference later in 2024.

BEAM is also expanding its genetic disease pipeline by developing BEAM-301 and BEAM-302.

The company has completed dosing in the first cohort of a phase I/II study evaluating BEAM-302 for the treatment of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Initial clinical data from multiple cohorts of the study is expected in 2025.

BEAM is currently activating sites for the phase I/II study evaluating BEAM-301, an investigational in vivo base editing medicine, for treating glycogen storage disease Type Ia. Patient dosing in the study is expected to begin in 2025 in the United States.

BEAM's Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Beam Therapeutics currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the biotech space are CRISPR Therapeutics AG CRSP, Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AVIR and Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. FOLD, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In the past 60 days, estimates for CRISPR Therapeutics’ 2024 loss per share have narrowed from $5.58 to $5.55. Loss per share estimates for 2025 have narrowed from $4.98 to $4.94 during the same time. Year to date, shares of CRSP have decreased 19.5%.

CRSP’s earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters while missing on the remaining occasion, the average surprise being 101.83%.

In the past 60 days, estimates for Atea Pharmaceuticals’ 2024 loss per share have narrowed from $2.55 to $2.22. Loss per share estimates for 2025 have narrowed from $2.58 to $1.80 during the same time. Year to date, shares of AVIR have increased 9.8%.

AVIR’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters while missing on the remaining two occasions, the average surprise being 5.23%.

In the past 60 days, estimates for Amicus’ 2024 earnings per share have moved up from 21 cents to 22 cents. Earnings per share estimates for 2025 have improved from 50 cents to 53 cents during the same time. Year to date, shares of FOLD have declined 17.2%.

FOLD’s earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters while missing on the remaining occasion, the average surprise being 23.96%.

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