Oncology company NovoCure (Nasdaq: NVCR) from Haifa saw its share price rise 9.62% on Friday to $48.89, giving a market cap of $4.676 billion, after reporting its first quarter 2019 figures.
NovoCure reported $73 million revenue in the first quarter, up 41% from the corresponding quarter of 2018 and 5% from the preceding quarter of 2018. The company reported a net loss of $12.2 million but still has $256.6 million in cash after raising $150 million in debt in February 2018.
Most of the revenue was from its lead product, which treats solid tumors of the glioblastoma (GBM) type using a helmet device called Tumor Treating Fields, based on electrical stimulation. which already has FDA approval. The company awaits indemnity from US government medical insurance company Medicure for first-line treatment and such approval would see a major jump in sales.
The company was founded in 2000 by Prof. Yoram Palti of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, and since before its 2015 IPO on Nasdaq, Asaf Danziger has served as CEO and William Doyle as chairman.
Last week CNBC pundit Jim Cramer said on "Mad Money," "Novocure is a good company. I don’t understand why it’s independent. I think that one of these big drug companies or device companies should just go buy it, ’cause it’s got great technology. And the technology works."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 5, 2019
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