On february 27, 2020 Morphic Therapeutic (NASDAQ: MORF), a biopharmaceutical company developing a new generation of oral integrin therapies for the treatment of serious chronic diseases, reported corporate highlights and financial results for the full year 2019 (Press release, Morphic Therapeutic, FEB 27, 2020, View Source [SID1234554913]).
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2019 and Recent Corporate Highlights:
Completed a successful Initial Public Offering with gross proceeds of $103.5 million
Announced a partnership with Janssen for the discovery of novel oral integrin inhibitors
Presented preclinical data supporting MORF-057 as an oral inhibitor candidate targeting α4β7; IND expected in mid-2020
Advanced development of MORF-720 in IPF with AbbVie, IND anticipated by year-end 2020
Year-end cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $237.0 million expected to fund operating expenses and capital expenditures requirements at least through 2022
"Morphic Therapeutic made tremendous progress in our mission to develop oral integrin therapeutics during 2019 across both the developmental and financial aspects of our business. Notably, we completed a successful IPO in July 2019 that provided us with substantial resources to advance our proprietary pipeline of integrin-targeted candidates. Further, we struck an important partnership with Janssen that supports the exploration of a broader scope of integrin drug targets," commented Praveen Tipirneni, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Morphic Therapeutic. "Moving forward, Morphic began 2020 with important milestones that signal the near-term initiation of clinical trials of our development pipeline. We recently presented preclinical data at ECCO 2020 supporting MORF-057’s mechanism of action as being analogous to that of approved therapeutic vedolizumab, with a potentially superior target interaction profile and oral administration."
Financial Results for the Full Year 2019
Net loss for the year ended December 31, 2019, was $43.3 million or $2.69 per share compared to a net loss of $23.8 million or $22.28 per share for the year ended December 31, 2018.
Revenue was $17.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to $3.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase was due to collaboration agreements signed with AbbVie in October 2018 and Janssen in February 2019.
Research and development expenses were $53.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 as compared to $22.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase was primarily attributable to higher development and manufacturing costs associated with our lead product candidates, MORF-057 and MORF-720, as well as increased personnel-related costs to support continued progress with the company’s pipeline.
General and administrative expenses were $10.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to $5.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase year-over-year was primarily attributable to increased headcount and higher professional and consulting fees associated with ongoing business activities and Morphic’s costs to operate as a public company.
As of December 31, 2019, Morphic had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $237.0 million, compared to $185.9 million as of December 31, 2018. Morphic believes its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2019, will be sufficient to fund operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements at least through 2022.