Syndax outlines a path to profitability

Solo launches can be tough for biotechs, but Syndax appears to be bucking the trend with solid second-quarter sales, reported after market on Monday. The group’s share price climbed 17% on Tuesday, but is still not far off five-year lows. Syndax, whose menin inhibitor Revuforj and Incyte-partnered graft-versus-host disease drug Niktimvo are both in the early stages of launch, reckons its current cash balance of $518m will take it to profitability. Revuforj, which was approved and launched in the US in November for relapsed KMT2A-rearranged acute leukaemia, sold $29m in the second quarter, up 43% sequentially. The drug is due an FDA decision this autumn in relapsed NPM1-mutant disease; Syndax estimates that the overall market for relapsed disease is $2bn. Expanding into the front line could open up a $5bn market; phase 3 first-line combo trials are ongoing and planned. Niktimvo, meanwhile, got approved for third-line GvHD last August but was only launched in January. Sales totalled $36m in the second quarter, of which Syndax booked $9.4m and is already making a profit. Despite rumours, though, Syndax hasn’t been bought out, while its menin rival Kura has attracted Kyowa Kirin as a partner.