BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:BCRX) shares are trading lower Tuesday after the company reported worse-than-expected earnings results.

What Happened: BioCryst said fourth-quarter revenue increased 68% year-over-year to $79.55 million, which beat average analyst estimates of $75.64 million, according to Benzinga Pro. The company said the increase was primarily due to ORLADEYO net revenue of $70.7 million in the quarter.

BioCryst reported a fourth-quarter net loss of 38 cents per share, which missed estimates for a loss of 17 cents per share. The company's earnings results were down from a net loss of 10 cents per share in the prior year's quarter. 

"Underlying demand from patients and physicians for ORLADEYO continues to be strong and consistent in the U.S. and our initial European launches are gaining traction with ORLADEYO now commercially available in 15 countries. All of this enables more and more patients to benefit from ORLADEYO, which is on a trajectory to achieve $1 billion in peak sales," said Charlie Gayer, chief commercial officer of BioCryst.

BioCryst said it expects first-quarter ORLADEYO net revenue to be "similar to, or slightly less than" ORLADEYO net revenue in the fourth quarter. Full-year 2023 global ORLADEYO revenue is expected to be "no less than $320 million."

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BioCryst discovers novel, oral, small-molecule medicines that treat rare diseases in which significant unmet medical needs exist and an enzyme plays a key role in the biological pathway of the disease. ORLADEYO is a once-daily treatment for prevention of hereditary angioedema attacks. 

BCRX Price Action: BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shares are down 7.84% at $9.40 at time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Konstantin Kolosov from Pixabay.