KemPharm’s first-quarter loss widens

A Coralville pharmaceutical development company posted a wider first-quarter loss in its initial earnings report since becoming a publicly-traded company.

KemPharm reported a loss of $6 million, or $2.50 per share, in the quarter that ended on March 31, compared with a loss of $1.9 million, or 80 cents per share, for the same period in 2014. The clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company, which is engaged in the discovery and development of proprietary prodrugs, did not report any revenue for the period.

A prodrug is a medication that is administered in a pharmacologically inactive form, which is converted to an active form through the body's normal metabolic process.

KemPharm shares began trading April 16 on the Nasdaq Global Market. Net proceeds from the the company's initial public offering, including the exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares, were $59.9 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $4.5 million.

KemPharm attributed the wider first-quarter loss to expenses related to the initial public offering as well as research and development costs for the company's most advanced product candidate, KP201/APAP.

'KP201/APAP consists of KP201, our prodrug of hydrocodone, formulated in combination with acetaminophen,” said Travis Mickle, preisdent and CEO of KemPharm. 'Human clinical trials for KP201/APAP are ongoing, and we look forward to reporting data from our ongoing oral liability trial in the second quarter.”

After meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on May 20, KemPharm's management expects to file a new drug application with the agency for KP201/APAP in the second half of this year.