What happened Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: BCRX) were soaring 14.5% higher as of 10:51 a.m. EDT on Thursday. The big gain came after the drugmaker provided its first-quarter update before the market opened. So what BioCryst had plenty of good news to share in its quarterly update. The company reported total revenue in Q1 of $19.1 million, more than doubling the consensus Wall Street revenue estimate of $8.9 million. Image source: Getty Images. The primary driver of this strong growth was Orladeyo. The hereditary angioedema (HAE) drug generated net sales of $10.9 million in Q1, its first full quarter on the U.S. market. BioCryst stated that the majority of these sales came from new patients who switched to Orladeyo from other medications or from acute-only treatment. In addition to its better-than-expected sales, BioCryst also announced that it's reached an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use change from baseline in hemoglobin as the primary endpoint for its planned pivotal clinical studies evaluating BCX9930 in treating rare disease paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). The company reported clinical results in March that showed the experimental drug achieved significant increases of hemoglobin in PNH patients. Now what The biotech stock could have several potential catalysts on the way. BioCryst received European Commission approval for Orladeyo on April 30. The company plans a commercial launch of the drug in Germany this quarter and will follow up by launching Orladeyo in other European markets. It also hopes to win U.K. approval of the drug. 10 stocks we like better than BioCryst PharmaceuticalsWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of February 24, 2021 Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source