Here's What We Want To See From The Palatin Technologies, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:PTN) Earnings

The last time Palatin Technologies, Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:PTN) reported earnings, the company ran from $0.60 a share to more than $0.86 a share – a close to a 45% appreciation.This is a company that has a pretty loyal base of shareholders and one that also has many potential trigger pullers waiting for an excuse to jump into an exposure.The company's latest earnings report will hit press on Monday next week, at which time management will also take to the phone for a conference call based business update. PTN Daily ChartIf earnings and – for us, more importantly – the business update are positive, we could see some strong upside momentum hit the tape almost immediately.So what are we looking for as validation of these expectations?First, for those new to this one, Palatin is a development stage biotechnology stock that has a pretty wide and diverse portfolio of development assets but the primary (and the one on which vast majority of its current valuation rests) is a drug called bremelanotide, which is now known commercially as Rekynda. It's an investigational product designed for on-demand treatment of what's called hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in pre-menopausal women.HSDD is the most common type of female sexual dysfunction (FSD), and it is characterized by low sexual desire that causes marked distress or interpersonal difficulties within or outside of personal relationships. Approximately 15 million women in the US suffer from the condition, of which around 5.8 million are pre-menopausal.So that's a pretty big market, where does the drug sit as far as development pathway is concerned?Well, this is where the situation gets a little bit (not overly, but a little bit) complicated.Back in January this year, Palatin announced that it had entered into a licensing agreement that saw US biotechnology company AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAG) pick up the North American rights to the drug. In return for the rights, Palatin received $60 million of total upfront consideration, up to $80 million contingent upon achieving certain regulatory milestones and up to $300 million contingent upon meeting certain sales milestones.The vast majority of this money comes to Palatin when the drug is approved, as is generally the case with a sort of arrangement, but for a company the size of Palatin (which was valued at a little over $140 million at last close) the $80 million regulatory milestone payments could really make a difference to aggregate valuation near term.And it's this payment that we are looking to as the near-term catalyst that we hope management will discuss on the upcoming conference call.Specifically, we want to know exactly when AMAG intends to file its NDA with the FDA for the drug, given that a large portion of the above-mentioned $80 million regulatory milestone payment is likely due when the FDA accepts the application for review (note, not approves, merely accepts).The asset has already completed two phase 3 trials and achieved co-primary endpoints on both, suggesting there is a solid argument for approval long-term. With this in mind, an FDA acceptance of the application is a real hurdle cleared in terms of the company paving the way to its $300 million sales milestones longer-term.Of course, we will also be looking at the numbers and we would like to see a relatively strong cash balance reported, purely because this will help to negate any near-term dilution that might otherwise be necessary in order to push the company's remaining development pipeline forward in the US.The conference call is expected to take place at market open on Monday, with the assumption being that earnings will be reported half an hour earlier to give markets a chance to digest the numbers and to give analysts an opportunity to come up with some pertinent questions.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on PTN, sign up below!Image courtesy of Larissa Puro via FlickrDisclosure: We have no position in PTN and have not been compensated for this article.