Clovis stock falls 20% on job cuts, $50M debt offering

BOULDER — Clovis Oncology Inc. (Nasdaq: CLVS) laid off 45 of its employees in its sales department as it attempts to pivot to a “hybrid” sales approach during the pandemic.

In its third-quarter earnings report Thursday, the Boulder pharmaceutical company said the pandemic has limited in-person sales calls and new cancer diagnoses at large, and is looking to focus more of its sales efforts in online visits with doctors both during and after the pandemic.

Clovis said it hopes to “better reach customers in the way they want to be reached with the goal of returning to growth” in adopting the new strategy.

The company posted $38.8 million in sales from its flagship cancer treatment Rubraca, below Wall Street consensus estimates of $42.6 million, according to data from finance site Seeking Alpha.

It posted an overall net loss of $78.67 million for the period, lower than the $94 million loss it posted in the same quarter last year.

The company said it had $224.7 million in cash and equivalents on hand at the end of September and believes that will keep the company solvent through early 2022 and fund what it expects to be a busy 2021 in terms of medical trials.

In a separate filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Clovis said it is in the midst of completing a $50 million convertible debt offering, which would fund it through early 2023.

Clovis’ stock price fell about 20% on the news, trading at $4.50 per share as of 11:30 a.m. Mountain Time.

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