On March 5, 2020 Caladrius Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLBS) ("Caladrius" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of cellular therapies designed to reverse, not manage, cardiovascular disease, reported financial results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2019 (Press release, Caladrius Biosciences, MAR 5, 2020, View Source [SID1234555221]).

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"I am pleased with the Company’s many achievements throughout 2019 as we made significant progress advancing our CD34+ technology-based clinical programs while maintaining strict financial controls," stated David J. Mazzo, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Caladrius. "Notably, in November at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2019, we reported the data for those patients (17 of 20) who, at that time, had completed their six-month follow-up visit in our ESCaPE-CMD study of CLBS16. The results showed highly statistically significant improvement in coronary flow reserve ("CFR") correlating with angina symptom relief for patients with coronary microvascular dysfunction ("CMD") after a single administration of CLBS16. To our knowledge, this is the first therapy to show the ability to durably increase CFR and potentially reverse CMD after a single administration. We look forward to reporting the full study data in the first half of 2020 in an appropriate forum. In Japan, enrollment continues to progress for the study of CLBS12 in critical limb ischemia ("CLI"), and we anticipate completing enrollment in the first half of 2020. Current data in both the no-option CLI and Buerger’s Disease cohorts of that study (the latter cohort has been fully enrolled and data are available in our corporate presentation) remain corroborative of previously published results, which we believe are an indication of a high probability of clinical success of the trial. We continue to anticipate top line data for the full study in early 2021 leading to an earliest possible approval in Japan in late 2021 or early 2022. Finally, we have completed all preparatory measures for the initiation of the single confirmatory phase 3 study agreed with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the "FDA") to conclude development of CLBS14 in no-option refractory disabling angina (NORDA) and are awaiting finalization of a funding plan before commencing the trial.

"We are excited about what lies ahead in 2020 and expect to build on this momentum as we continue to advance our clinical development pipeline and strive to achieve a number of important development milestones throughout the balance of the year," concluded Dr. Mazzo.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Financial Highlights

Research and development expenses for the fourth quarter of 2019 were $2.8 million, an 84% increase compared with $1.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2018, and $10.8 million for 2019, a 42% increase compared with $7.6 million for 2018. Research and development in both the current year and prior year periods focused on the advancement of our ischemic repair platform and related to:

ongoing registration-eligible study expenses for CLBS12 in critical limb ischemia in Japan, whereby we continue to focus spending on our patient enrollment;

ongoing Phase 2 proof-of-concept study expenses for CLBS16 in coronary microvascular dysfunction, for which study enrollment was completed in the second quarter of 2019; and

expenses associated with preparation of our confirmatory Phase 3 study of CLBS14 in NORDA. In late 2019, we projected that the Phase 3 study would cost approximately $70 million in external expenses over the next several years to complete, and as a result, we elected to postpone the initiation of the study until we have confidence that we can access sufficient capital to allow us to complete the study uninterrupted

General and administrative expenses, which focus on general corporate related activities, were approximately $2.3 million for both the fourth quarters of 2019 and 2018, and $9.3 million for 2019, a slight decline compared to $9.4 million in 2018.

The net loss for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $5.0 million, or $0.47 per share, compared with $3.6 million, or $0.36 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2018. The net loss for 2019 was $19.4 million, or $1.88 per share, compared with $16.2 million, or $1.67 per share, for 2018.

Balance Sheet Highlights

As of December 31, 2019, Caladrius had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $25.2 million. Based on existing programs and projections, the Company remains confident that its cash balances will fund its operations through at least the second quarter of 2021.

Conference Call

Caladrius’ management will host a conference call for the investment community later today, March 5, 2020, at 4:30 p.m. (ET) to discuss the financial results, provide a company update and answer questions.

Shareholders and other interested parties may participate on the conference call by dialing (866) 595-8403 (U.S.) or (706) 758-9979 (International), using the conference ID code: 4155934. The live webcast will be accessible via the Events page listed under the Investor section of the Company’s website at www.caladrius.com/investors/news-events/events.

For those unable to participate on the live conference call, an audio replay will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call until 11:59 p.m. ET on March 12, 2020. To access the replay, please dial (855) 859-2056 (U.S.) or (404) 537-3406 (International) and provide the conference ID code: 4155934.

A webcast replay of the conference call will remain available on the Company’s website for 90 days.