Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) has announced its Q1 2020 financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.
Geron has enough cash to last it the second half of 2022
At the end of Q1, the company reported that it had cash and cash equivalents as well as non-current and current securities of $133 million. Recently the company closed a public offering of securities and raised net proceeds of around $140 million. Geron indicated that, according to its planning estimates, it has enough cash to fund its operations up to the second half of 2022. This is when it will release top-line data from the IMerge third phase study in lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. Also, the company will be completing enrolment for the expected third phase clinical study in refractory myelofibrosis in the second half of 2022.
The company has revised its 2020 guidance outlook, and it now expects an operating cash burn of between $70 million and $75 million. The revised guidance outlook reflects the measures the company took in April amid the coronavirus pandemic to conserve cash. They include suspension of travels as well as the postponement of the anticipated imeterstat proof of concept study. Also, it shows the new costs associated with startup activities of the third phase clinical study in refractory MF as well as the extra cost for the expansion of IMerger third phase clinical study sites.
Geron posted a net loss of $16.4 million in Q1
In the first quarter, the company posted a net loss of $16.4 million or 8 cents per share relative to $10.1 million or 5 cents per share for the same period in 2019. In the quarter, the company’s revenue was $52,000 relative to $57,000 last year.
The royalties in 2020 and last year reflect the projected royalty revenues from sales of the company’s cell-based research products. Also, it included those related to the divestiture of the company’s embryonic stem cell assets that included the IP and proprietary tech to Lineage Cell Therapeutics Inc. the company expects to receive future royalties on product sales.
