Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

August 19, 2020 Bioscience Notebook

Bioscience trio reports losses in latest quarter

PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED BioXcel CEO Vimal Mehta
By Natalie Missakian

Three publicly-traded New Haven bioscience companies have reported second-quarter earnings in the past week.  

New Haven’s BioXcel Therapeutics Inc. reported a net loss of $21.4 million, or $1.06 a share, for the April-to-June period, up from $8.5 million during the second quarter in 2019. This includes roughly $2 million in non-cash stock-based compensation, compared to $1 million for the year-ago period, BioXcel said. 

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations, with analysts projecting a net loss of 74 cents a share, according to a consensus estimate from Zacks’ Investment Research. 

The losses came as the company poured more money into clinical trials and made new hires to prepare for the commercial launch of its new drug to treat agitation, which inched closer to regulatory approval last month. BioXcel does not yet have a revenue-producing product.

In July, the company announced the dissolving thin film, BXCL501, met all goals in a Phase 3 trial to treat agitation in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. 

The company said it is meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October ahead of the new drug approval application it expects to file in early 2021. 

BioXcel also has human trials of the drug underway for several other conditions, and is also testing an immuno-oncology drug, BXCL701.

Research and Development expenses for the quarter rose to $17.9 million, compared to $6.5 million during the second quarter of 2019, due to increases in clinical trial activity, BioXcel said. 

General and administrative expenses were $3.5 million, compared to $2.1 million a year ago, mostly due to salaries, non-cash compensation and professional fees, according to the company. 

The company ended the quarter with roughly $65.5 million in cash on hand. BioXcel said this combined with the $187.5 million it generated with a common stock offering in July gives it a cash runway to fund key clinical, regulatory, operational and commercial activities “well into 2022.” 

***

New Haven’s Trevi Therapeutics Inc. reported a net loss of $7.4 million, or 41 cents a share, during the quarter that ended June 30, slightly more than the $7.3 million it lost in the year-ago period. 

The results beat Wall Street expectations. Analysts forecasted a loss of 52 cents a share, according to a consensus estimate from Zacks Investment Research. The company does not have any revenue-producing products.

The losses came as Trevi advanced enrollment in a clinical trial of its drug, Haduvio, to treat patients with prurigo nodularis, a condition marked by severe, chronic itching. Trevi said it expects to complete enrollment in the trial during the third quarter of 2021 and report data by the end of next year.

It is also conducting human trials of the drug for chronic cough in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. 

R&D costs for the quarter were $4.9 million, down from $5.5 million for the same period in 2019. The decrease was due mostly to the halting of clinical trial activity at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trevi said.

G&A expenses were $2.5 million, up from $1.9 million in the second quarter of 2019. The increase was attributed mostly to a rise in stock-based compensation expenses and costs related to being a public company, according to Trevi. 

The company reported $44.2 million in cash as of June 30, compared to $57.3 million as of Dec. 30, 2019. This combined with a $14 million term loan it secured this month through Silicon Valley Bank will extend Trevi’s cash runway into the first half of 2022, the company reported. 

***

New Haven diagnostics company Precipio Inc. reported higher sales figures and narrower second-quarter losses in 2020 compared to a year ago, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Science Park-based Precipio reported a net loss of $2.25 million, or 20 cents a diluted share, for the April-to-June period, down from $5.9 million during the second quarter of 2019. 

The company reported net sales of $1.31 million, up from $942,000 a year ago, according to the filing. 

Precipio offers diagnostic services and products aimed at reducing disease misdiagnosis.

Its commercial products include HemeScreen, a proprietary hematologic malignancy panel, and IV-Cell, a medium developed specifically to support bone marrow and peripheral blood cell culture, according to the company website.  

Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF