Aduro Biotech Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Financial Results

On March 08, 2016 Aduro Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADRO) reported financial results for the year ended December 31, 2015 (Press release, Aduro BioTech, MAR 8, 2016, View Source;p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2146953 [SID:1234509414]). Net loss was $39.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, or $0.88 per share, compared to a net loss of $17.0 million, or $53.06 per share for the year ended December 31, 2014.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $431.0 million at December 31, 2015, compared to $119.5 million at December 31, 2014.

"2015 was a banner year for Aduro," said Stephen T. Isaacs, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Aduro. "We made tremendous progress on all fronts and are now uniquely positioned in the immunotherapy field with three differentiated and diverse platform technologies and a deep pipeline of assets in early and late stages of development. While our initial therapeutic priorities are in oncology, we believe the power of our technologies to regulate and temper the immune system also offers potential in autoimmune and infectious diseases."

Key 2015 Accomplishments
Corporate achievements

Raised gross proceeds of approximately $137 million in IPO

Signed collaboration with Novartis targeting STING pathway in oncology generating $200M cash up front, $50 million in equity investment and potential $500M in future milestones

Acquired BioNovion Holding B.V., a monoclonal antibody company; renamed to Aduro Biotech Europe

Clinical achievements

Published Phase 2a pancreatic cancer results in the Journal of Clinical Oncology

Initiated Phase 2b STELLAR clinical trial in pancreatic cancer

Completed enrollment in Phase 2b ECLIPSE clinical trial in pancreatic cancer

Received Orphan Drug Designation in the EU for CRS-207 and GVAX Pancreas in pancreatic cancer

Received Orphan Drug Designation in the US and EU for CRS-207 in mesothelioma

Completed enrollment in Phase 1b clinical trial in mesothelioma

Reported Phase 1b mesothelioma clinical trial results at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) and ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper)/ECC 2015

Signed clinical trial agreement with Incyte to develop combination therapy in ovarian cancer

Initiated Phase 1 clinical trials in prostate (ADU-741) and lung cancer (ADU-214) in collaboration with Janssen

Significant Upcoming Milestones

Report top line results for Phase 2b ECLIPSE clinical trial in pancreatic cancer in the second quarter of 2016

Report interim results for Phase 2b STELLAR clinical trial in pancreatic cancer in the second half of 2016

Report top line results for Phase 1b clinical trial in mesothelioma in the first half of 2016

Initiate randomized Phase 3 clinical trial in mesothelioma in the first half of 2016

Initiate Phase 1 clinical trial in cutaneously accessible tumors with ADU-S100 in collaboration with Novartis in the first half of 2016

Initiate Phase 1 clinical trial in ovarian cancer in collaboration with Incyte in the first half of 2016

Financial Performance
Revenues were $34.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 and $73.0 million for the full year 2015, compared to $9.9 million and $13.4 million, respectively, for the same periods in 2014. The increase was primarily due to recognition of a portion of the upfront fees and development-related milestones achieved under the Janssen and Novartis agreements.

Research and development expenses were $22.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 and $58.6 million for the full year 2015, compared to $7.5 million and $23.5 million, respectively, for the same periods in 2014. This increase was primarily due to clinical development expenses mainly associated with our ongoing trials for our lead indication in pancreatic cancer, manufacturing costs of our clinical product candidates and compensation and related personnel expenses associated with continued workforce growth.

General and administrative expenses were $8.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 and $27.8 million for the full year 2015, compared to $3.5 million and $9.0 million, respectively, for the same periods in 2014. This increase was primarily due to increased consulting and outside professional services and personnel expenses to support the company’s expanding operations, including our acquisition of Aduro Biotech Europe.

Loss from remeasurement of fair value of warrants was zero for the fourth quarter of 2015 and $26.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, due to changes in the fair value of liability-classified warrants to purchase Aduro’s preferred and common stock. In April 2015, all such warrants ceased being liability-classified as the contingency surrounding the number of shares issuable upon the warrant exercise expired. In April 2015, all outstanding warrants were equity-classified and not subject to future remeasurement.