MONEY

Incyte progresses on COVID-19 treatment. Other big Delaware companies slog through tough economy

Karl Baker
Delaware News Journal

Pharmaceutical executives from a Delaware company, headquartered on a hill above the Brandywine, fielded questions from Wall Street analysts Tuesday about their big jump in sales during the pandemic. 

Incyte Corp.'s revenue during the previous three economically depressed months neared $700 million, up from $530 million for the same period last year when the economy boomed.

Like last year and years before, recent sales had been driven by the company's $21 billion blockbuster cancer drug, called Jakafi.

During Tuesday's meeting, Incyte CEO Hervé Hoppenot described how the drug could continue to buoy company fortunes if used to treat the sometimes-fatal symptoms of COVID-19.

In April, Incyte first announced it would partner with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and others to study whether Jakafi could be repurposed to treat coronavirus patients suffering from severe immune reactions, called cytokine storms. 

Two Jakafi studies are expected to show results before 2021, Hoppenot said.

"It's progressing well, and we hope to have data with a complete study and an endpoint to report out before the end of the year," he said.  

More about Incyte in Delaware:

Incyte gets go-ahead on expansion plan at Augustine Cut-Off headquarters

Incyte seeks billions after worker allegedly walks off with cancer drug secrets

An employee walks by an Incyte company motto banner at the new Incyte headquarters.

Despite encouraging statements, the stock price for Alapocas-based Incyte fell Tuesday morning by more than 3%. 

The rapidly growing company is among several in Delaware that have made more money than Wall Streeters expected during the pandemic, but whose share prices have wildly fluctuated as investors wonder if sales can be sustained without broader economic growth. 

In June, the National Bureau of Economic Research said the U.S. economy peaked in February, then began to shrink, ending the longest expansion in U.S. history at 128 months.

Founded in the early 1990s in California, Incyte later moved to Delaware and operated out of DuPont's Experimental Station for a decade. In 2014, it moved its headquarters off of the DuPont property to one that sits just outside of Wilmington city limits – and its wage tax. 

Last week, Incyte's former landlord also told Wall Street about its financial performance during the pandemic, and it too surpassed experts' relatively low expectations. 

Last Thursday, DuPont reported it earned 70 cents per share, when excluding certain costs attributed to COVID-19 and various one-time expenses. When adding those factors in, the Delaware chemical giant said it lost $3.37 for each share owned, totaling a massive $2.5 billion loss.

Its volatile stock price collapsed immediately after the report, but rebounded in subsequent days and on Tuesday was down less than 1% for the week. 

Also reporting financials Thursday was DuPont spinoff Chemours, which projected a more positive picture than its former parent. While profits were down from the previous year, they surpassed Wall Street's expectations and the Wilmington company avoided an outright loss.

Chemours CEO Mark Vergnano told investors his company had paused production of chemicals at "several facilities" to preserve cash as demand for products slumped. 

"We remain limited in our ability to forecast beyond the coming weeks," he said. "And, while we're hopeful of an ongoing recovery, the view from our customers is not consistently clear."

Challenges over the long run for both DuPont and Chemours include potentially billions of dollars of costs related to the clean up of previously polluted industrial sites.

The Chemours sign sits above the entrance to the recently renovated DuPont building in January 2019.

More:In fight of Delaware chemical giants, DuPont uses statements from Chemours CEO against him

Last year, Chemours sued DuPont in Delaware Chancery Court, arguing its former parent should either accept responsibility for a bigger chunk of pollution liabilities or pay $3.9 billion to Chemours.

Other recent Delaware earnings reports have included student loan servicer Navient, which wowed investors with profits that surpassed last year's, and the regional bank WSFS, which recorded a $7 million loss. 

The bank, which recently expanded into Philadelphia, said the loss resulted from a nearly $95 million provision of cash that it set aside for expected credit losses.

Excluding the provision, WSFS's earnings were "solid," CEO Rodger Levenson told investors, in part because of income made from distributing loans to small businesses as part of the federal government's Paycheck Protection Plan.  

"PPP was obviously a highlight," he said. 

More:How much small-business relief money really flowed to Delaware?

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.