On August 16, 2021 Celularity Inc. ("Celularity") (Nasdaq:CELU), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing off-the-shelf placental-derived allogeneic therapies, reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, and provided a summary of recent corporate highlights (Press release, Celularity, AUG 16, 2021, View Source [SID1234591816]).
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"This has been an exciting time for Celularity, with the achievement of multiple transformational milestones and significant progress in our unique approach to cellular medicine," said Robert J. Hariri, M.D., Ph.D., founder, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Celularity. "Most notably, this quarter marked our transition to a public company through a merger with GX Acquisition Corp., which along with a companion PIPE provided significant funds to support our work. Additionally, we made noteworthy advances in our clinical programs, including the expansion of our Phase 1 trial in patients with acute myeloid leukemia, to include difficult to treat patient populations. Beyond our program development, we forged new strategic and commercial partnerships with companies at the forefront of their respective fields that continue our legacy of pioneering new and innovative approaches to cellular medicine. We look forward to continuing to advance the field of cellular medicine and developing treatments capable of addressing significant unmet needs in cancer, autoimmune and infectious disease."
Corporate Highlights
Celularity closed the merger with GX Acquisition Corp. ("GXGX"). Proceeds from the transaction totaled approximately $138 million, which included funds held in GXGX’s trust account and a concurrent private placement investment in public equity (PIPE) financing led by existing Celularity shareholders.
Celularity expanded its ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of CYNK-001 in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (NCT04310592) to include patients with relapsed/refractory AML (r/r AML) in addition to its ongoing trial in patients positive for minimal residual disease (MRD).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Orphan Drug Designation to Celularity’s CYNK-001, a non-genetically modified cryopreserved human placental hematopoietic stem cell-derived natural killer (NK) cell therapy, for the treatment of patients with malignant gliomas.
Celularity entered an exclusive strategic partnership with Imugene Ltd to develop a novel oncolytic virus – allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy combination for the treatment of solid tumors. The collaboration will initially explore the therapeutic potential of a combination of Imugene’s CF33-CD19 oncolytic virus (onCARlytics) and Celularity’s placental-derived CD19 targeting CAR T-cell therapy, CYCART-19.
Celularity established a partnership to leverage Palantir’s next generation software and computational capabilities to analyze Celularity’s cellular data and accelerate research and development activities.
On July 1, 2021, Celularity announced its agreement with Arthrex whereby Arthrex would receive exclusive rights to distribute and commercialize Celularity’s placental-derived biomaterial products for orthopedics and sports medicine in the U.S. Under the terms of the agreement, Celularity will provide Arthrex with exclusive commercial distribution rights for orthopedic surgery and sports medicine and will continue to be responsible for product manufacturing and supply.
Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results
Revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2021, experienced a decrease of $0.3 million compared to the prior year. This was due to a decrease in product sales and rentals revenue resulting from the $24.5 million sale of the MIST/UltraMIST assets in August 2020, partially offset by (i) an increase of $0.6 million in license, royalty and other revenues related to the license arrangement with Sanuwave and (ii) an increase of $0.2 million in services revenues primarily due to higher biobanking storage revenues.
Research and development expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2021, increased $7.1 million compared to the prior year. The increase in research and development expenses was primarily due to a non-cash stock compensation charge related to the grant of fully vested senior management awards.
Selling, general and administrative expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2021, increased $21.3 million compared to the prior year, primarily due to a non-cash stock-based compensation charge related to the grant of fully vested non-employee director and senior management awards.
Net loss for the second quarter of 2021 was $64.5 million, or $2.69 per share.