- Conference call to be held on March 3, 2020 at 8:30 am EST/1:30 pm GMT -
LONDON, March 03, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Autolus Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: AUTL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T cell therapies, today announced its operational and financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2019.
“It has been an exciting year of progress for Autolus concluding with the presentation of encouraging AUTO 1 and AUTO 3 clinical data at the ASH conference in December 2019. AUTO1 is poised for a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial starting in the first half of 2020, and AUTO3 is progressing to a Phase 2 decision point in mid-2020,” said Dr. Christian Itin, chairman and chief executive officer of Autolus. “Supported by a strong balance sheet and alongside the two lead programs, we also continue to advance our next generation programs towards key near-term value inflection points.”
Key Pipeline Updates:
Operational and Corporate Highlights:
Key Upcoming Clinical Milestones:
Financial Results for the Quarter and Year Ended December 31, 2019
Cash and equivalents at December 31, 2019 totaled $210.6 million, before adjusting for the public offering in January 2020 of approximately $75 million net. This compared to $217.5 million at December 31, 2018.
Net total operating expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019 were $146.1 million, net of grant income of $2.9 million, as compared to net operating expenses of $74.1 million, net of grant income of $1.5 million, for the same period in 2018. The increase was due, in general, to the increase in development activity, increased headcount primarily in our development and manufacturing functions, and the cost of being a public company.
Research and development expenses increased to $105.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $48.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. Cash costs, which exclude depreciation as well as share-based compensation, increased to $83.4 million from $41.5 million. The increase in research and development cash costs of $41.9 million consisted of an increase in compensation-related costs of $20.0 million, primarily due to an increase in headcount to support the advancement of our product candidates in clinical development and investment in manufacturing facilities and equipment, an increase of $4.1 million in research and manufacturing consumables, in part due to the migration and expansion of our research and process development laboratories from Forest House to our new location in the Media Works facility, preparations in advance of any potential disruption to supply arrangements that may occur due to Brexit, as well as validation and training costs as part of the start-up at the Catapult facility, an increase of $10.2 million in facility costs primarily related to the addition of Media Works and Catapult, an increase of $3.8 million in project expenses related to the activities necessary to prepare, activate, and monitor clinical trial programs, an increase of $1.5 million in consulting, contracting and license fees that includes a decrease in milestone payments of $0.5 million consisting of a milestone payable to UCL Business plc in 2018 and a milestone payable to Noile-Immune Biotech Inc. in 2019, and an increase in IT and general office expenses of $2.3 million.
General and administrative expenses increased to $39.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $27.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. Cash costs, which exclude depreciation as well as share-based compensation increased to $26.6 million from $21.4 million. The increase of $5.2 million consisted primarily of an increase in compensation-related costs of $2.6 million due to an overall increase in headcount, an increase of $1.9 million in commercial costs, an increase in public company compliance costs of $1.0 million, an increase of $0.7 million in facility costs related to lease and maintenance costs, offset by decrease of $1.0 million in IT charges, project expenses, and other office expenses.
Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was $123.8 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, compared to $57.9 million for the same period in 2018.
The basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019 totaled $(2.88) compared to a basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share of $(1.48) for the twelve months ended December 31, 2018.
Autolus anticipates that cash on hand provides a runway into 2022.
Conference Call and Presentation Information
Autolus management will host a conference call today, March 3, at 8:30 a.m. EST/ 1:30pm GMT, to discuss the company’s financial results and operational update.
To listen to the webcast and view the accompanying slide presentation, please go to: https://www.autolus.com/investor-relations/news-and-events/events.
The call may also be accessed by dialing (866) 679-5407 for U.S. and Canada callers or (409) 217-8320 for international callers. Please reference conference ID 1090568. After the conference call, a replay will be available for one week. To access the replay, please dial (855) 859-2056 for U.S. and Canada callers or (404) 537-3406 for international callers. Please reference conference ID 1090568.
About Autolus Therapeutics plc
Autolus is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation, programmed T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Using a broad suite of proprietary and modular T cell programming technologies, the company is engineering precisely targeted, controlled and highly active T cell therapies that are designed to better recognize cancer cells, break down their defense mechanisms and eliminate these cells. Autolus has a pipeline of product candidates in development for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors. For more information please visit www.autolus.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts, and in some cases can be identified by terms such as "may," "will," "could," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," and "believes." These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Autolus’ financial condition and results of operations, including its expected cash runway; the development of Autolus’ product candidates, including statements regarding the timing of initiation, completion and the outcome of pre-clinical studies or clinical trials and related preparatory work, and the periods during which the results of the studies and trials will become available; Autolus’ plans to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize its product candidates; the potential for Autolus’ product candidates to be alternatives in the therapeutic areas investigated; and Autolus’ manufacturing capabilities and strategy. Any forward-looking statements are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause our actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section titled "Risk Factors" in Autolus' Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 3, 2020 as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in Autolus' future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
Contact:
Lucinda Crabtree, PhD
Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
+44 (0) 7587 372 619
l.crabtree@autolus.com
Julia Wilson
+44 (0) 7818 430877
j.wilson@autolus.com
Susan A. Noonan
S.A. Noonan Communications
+1-212-966-3650
susan@sanoonan.com
Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss (In thousands, except share and per share amounts) | ||||||||
December 31, | ||||||||
(unaudited) | ||||||||
2019 | 2018 | |||||||
Grant income | $ | 2,908 | $ | 1,472 | ||||
Gain on disposal | ||||||||
Operating expenses: | ||||||||
Research and development | (105,418 | ) | (48,299 | ) | ||||
General and administrative | (39,452 | ) | (27,299 | ) | ||||
Loss on impairment of leasehold improvements | (4,102 | ) | - | |||||
Total operating expenses, net | (146,064 | ) | (74,126 | ) | ||||
Other income (expense): | ||||||||
Interest income | 2,542 | 2,011 | ||||||
Other Income / (expense) | 4,514 | 5,752 | ||||||
Total other income (expense), net | 7,056 | 7,763 | ||||||
Net loss before income tax | (139,008 | ) | (66,363 | ) | ||||
Income tax benefit | 15,159 | 8,488 | ||||||
Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders | $ | (123,849 | ) | $ | (57,875 | ) | ||
Basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share | $ | (2.88 | ) | $ | (1.48 | ) | ||
Weighted-average basic and diluted ordinary shares | 43,065,542 | 39,163,413 | ||||||
Consolidated Balance Sheets (In thousands, except share and per share amounts) | ||||||||
December 31, | ||||||||
2019 | 2018 | |||||||
Assets | ||||||||
Current assets: | ||||||||
Cash | $ | 210,643 | $ | 217,450 | ||||
Restricted cash | 787 | 105 | ||||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 37,826 | 15,411 | ||||||
Total current assets | 249,256 | 232,966 | ||||||
Non-current assets: | ||||||||
Property and equipment, net | 28,164 | 19,968 | ||||||
Right of use asset, net | 23,409 | — | ||||||
Long-term deposits | 2,040 | 1,276 | ||||||
Deferred tax asset | 410 | — | ||||||
Intangible assets, net | 254 | — | ||||||
Total assets | $ | 303,533 | $ | 254,210 | ||||
Liabilities and shareholders' equity | ||||||||
Current liabilities: | ||||||||
Accounts payable | 1,075 | 2,022 | ||||||
Accrued expenses and other liabilities | 21,398 | 19,054 | ||||||
Lease liability | 2,511 | — | ||||||
Total current liabilities | 24,984 | 21,076 | ||||||
Non-current liabilities: | ||||||||
Lease liability | 23,710 | — | ||||||
Long-term lease incentive obligation | — | 207 | ||||||
Other long-term payables | — | 285 | ||||||
Total liabilities | 48,694 | 21,568 | ||||||
Shareholders' equity: | ||||||||
Ordinary shares, $0.000042 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized at December 31, 2019 and 2018, 44,983,006 and 40,145,617 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
Deferred shares, £0.00001 par value; 34,425 shares authorized, issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018 | — | — | ||||||
Deferred B shares, £0.00099 par value; 88,893,548 shares authorized, issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018 | 118 | 118 | ||||||
Deferred C shares, £0.000008 par value; 1 share authorized, issued and outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018 | — | — | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital | 500,560 | 361,311 | ||||||
Accumulated other comprehensive loss | (8,691 | ) | (15,488 | ) | ||||
Accumulated deficit | (237,150 | ) | (113,301 | ) | ||||
Total shareholders' equity | 254,839 | 232,642 | ||||||
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity | $ | 303,533 | $ | 254,210 |