Strong Financial Position
Arbutus ended Q3 2024 with $131 million in cash, sufficient to fund operations into Q4 2026. A $44 million net proceeds from common shares issuance offset $54.5 million in operational cash usage.
Arbutus Biopharma
· ABUS
November 6th, 2024
Summary
- Earnings Call Date:
- 2024-11-06
- Change Since:
- +13.78%
- Next Earnings Date:
- 2026-07-30
Earnings Call Sentiment
PositiveThe earnings call reflects a positive outlook with strong financial positioning and promising clinical trial data for HBV treatments. However, ongoing legal challenges and high operational cash burn present concerns.
Company Guidance
In the third quarter 2024 earnings call for Arbutus Biopharma, the company provided several key metrics and updates on their ongoing efforts to develop a functional cure for chronic hepatitis B (HBV). They reported having approximately $131 million in cash and investments, with a projected cash burn for 2024 between $63 million and $67 million, ensuring their financial runway extends into the fourth quarter of 2026. The company is advancing their RNAi therapeutic imdusiran through Phase IIa trials, IM-PROVE I and II, which have shown promising results, such as a 33% surface antigen loss in Cohort A1 and 67% in patients with baseline antigen levels below 1,000 IU/mL. Moreover, they are progressing with their AB-101 clinical trial, with evidence of dose-dependent receptor occupancy in Phase Ia/Ib, and anticipate reporting preliminary HBV patient data in the first half of next year. The litigation with Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech is ongoing, with a trial date set for September 2025 and a Markman hearing on December 18, 2024.
Promising Clinical Data for Hepatitis B Treatment
Imdusiran showed promising results in reducing surface antigen levels in HBV patients. In Cohort A1 of the IM-PROVE I trial, 33% of patients achieved surface antigen loss sustained at 24 weeks post-treatment, with 67% of those with baseline less than 1,000 IU/mL maintaining loss.
Upcoming Data Presentations
Upcoming presentations at the Liver Meeting 2024 and AASLD will showcase additional data from ongoing HBV trials, indicating continued progress and interest in Arbutus' research.
Operator
Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Arbutus Biopharma 2024 Third Quarter Financial Results and Corporate Update. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Lisa Caperelli, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Lisa Caperelli
Thank you, Antoine. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining Arbutus' Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results and Corporate Update Call. Joining me today from the Arbutus executive team are Mike McElhaugh, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer; David Hastings, Chief Financial Officer; Dr. Karen Sims, Chief Medical Officer; and Dr. Mike Sofia, Chief Scientific Officer. Mike McElhaugh will provide a corporate update, including an update on our ongoing clinical programs in HBV. Dave will then provide a review of the company's third quarter 2024 financial results. After our prepared remarks, we will open the call for Q&A.
Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that some of the statements made during the call today are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially, including those described in our annual report on Form 10-K, our quarterly report on Form 10-Q, which will be filed today and from time to time in our other documents filed with the SEC. With that, I'll turn the call over to Mike McElhaugh. Mike?
Mike McElhaugh
Thank you, Lisa, and good morning, everyone. I appreciate you joining us today. A few weeks ago, we issued a pr...
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