On May 15, 2018 Vaxart, Inc. (Nasdaq: VXRT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing oral recombinant vaccines that are administered by tablet rather than by injection, reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 and provided a corporate update (Press release, Aviragen Therapeutics, MAY 15, 2018, View Source [SID1234526635]).
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"Since the start of this year, we have made considerable progress advancing our business objectives and progressing our oral vaccine candidates as well as teslexivir for the treatment of condyloma caused by HPV," said Wouter Latour, chief executive officer of Vaxart. "Moreover, with the addition of Dr. David Taylor as our new chief medical officer, we are exceedingly well positioned to execute on the clinical strategy for our oral vaccines. We look forward to continued progress in 2018, with important clinical milestones coming up, including the reporting of topline results from the teslexivir Phase 2 trial in June and the initiation of the norovirus vaccine clinical studies later this year."
First Quarter 2018 and Recent Highlights:
Corporate:
On February 13, 2018, Vaxart closed its merger with publicly traded Aviragen Therapeutics, Inc. The combined public entity is now named Vaxart, Inc., and is traded on the Nasdaq Capital market under the ticker symbol "VXRT." The operations of Aviragen Therapeutics are included in the financial statements from the date of the merger forward.
On April 20, 2018, Vaxart announced it received notification from Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd, that sales of Inavir, a single dose product licensed in Japan to prevent or treat influenza infection, exceeded ¥20 billion in the royalty year ending March 31, 2018, triggering a $5 million milestone payment to Vaxart that will be paid in the second quarter of 2018.
On April 19, 2018, Vaxart announced the appointment of Brant Biehn as Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations. Mr. Biehn brings over 27 years of commercial planning, market development and sales experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
On May 1, 2018, Vaxart announced the appointment of David Taylor, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Taylor brings over 35 years of experience in medical research, drug and vaccine development and clinical trial management for government organizations, non-profits, academia and both private and public healthcare companies.
First Quarter 2018 Financial Results:
Vaxart ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $17.5 million compared to $3.0 million at December 31, 2017. The increase was due to cash received from Aviragen upon consummation of the reverse merger on February 13, 2018, offset by cash used in operations.
Revenue for the quarter was $1.5 million compared to $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2017. Revenue from the contract with HHS BARDA decreased $1.7 million as activities are winding down. Royalty revenue from sales of Relenza and Inavir, which were acquired in the merger, amounted to $0.9 million since the date of the merger. Most of the quarter’s royalty revenue, including the $5 million Inavir milestone, was earned prior to the merger and is reflected as $11.1 million in accounts receivable as of March 31, 2018.
Research and development expenses were $3.4 million for the quarter compared to $3.9 million for the first quarter of 2017. The decrease was primarily due to reduced activity under Vaxart’s contract with HHS BARDA, offset by clinical expenses relating to Aviragen’s operations since the date of the merger.
General and administrative expenses were $2.0 million for the first quarter of 2018, compared to $0.7 million for the first quarter of 2017. The increase was primarily due to the additional costs of being a public company, merger-related costs and the overlap of personnel during the transition of operations following the merger.
The excess of the estimated fair value of net assets acquired over the consideration paid for Aviragen resulted in a bargain purchase gain, which is included in the statement of operations. This is a non-cash item..
"Since the start of this year, we have made considerable progress advancing our business objectives and progressing our oral vaccine candidates as well as teslexivir for the treatment of condyloma caused by HPV," said Wouter Latour, chief executive officer of Vaxart. "Moreover, with the addition of Dr. David Taylor as our new chief medical officer, we are exceedingly well positioned to execute on the clinical strategy for our oral vaccines. We look forward to continued progress in 2018, with important clinical milestones coming up, including the reporting of topline results from the teslexivir Phase 2 trial in June and the initiation of the norovirus vaccine clinical studies later this year."
First Quarter 2018 and Recent Highlights:
Corporate:
On February 13, 2018, Vaxart closed its merger with publicly traded Aviragen Therapeutics, Inc. The combined public entity is now named Vaxart, Inc., and is traded on the Nasdaq Capital market under the ticker symbol "VXRT." The operations of Aviragen Therapeutics are included in the financial statements from the date of the merger forward.
On April 20, 2018, Vaxart announced it received notification from Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd, that sales of Inavir, a single dose product licensed in Japan to prevent or treat influenza infection, exceeded ¥20 billion in the royalty year ending March 31, 2018, triggering a $5 million milestone payment to Vaxart that will be paid in the second quarter of 2018.
On April 19, 2018, Vaxart announced the appointment of Brant Biehn as Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations. Mr. Biehn brings over 27 years of commercial planning, market development and sales experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
On May 1, 2018, Vaxart announced the appointment of David Taylor, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Taylor brings over 35 years of experience in medical research, drug and vaccine development and clinical trial management for government organizations, non-profits, academia and both private and public healthcare companies.
First Quarter 2018 Financial Results:
Vaxart ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $17.5 million compared to $3.0 million at December 31, 2017. The increase was due to cash received from Aviragen upon consummation of the reverse merger on February 13, 2018, offset by cash used in operations.
Revenue for the quarter was $1.5 million compared to $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2017. Revenue from the contract with HHS BARDA decreased $1.7 million as activities are winding down. Royalty revenue from sales of Relenza and Inavir, which were acquired in the merger, amounted to $0.9 million since the date of the merger. Most of the quarter’s royalty revenue, including the $5 million Inavir milestone, was earned prior to the merger and is reflected as $11.1 million in accounts receivable as of March 31, 2018.
Research and development expenses were $3.4 million for the quarter compared to $3.9 million for the first quarter of 2017. The decrease was primarily due to reduced activity under Vaxart’s contract with HHS BARDA, offset by clinical expenses relating to Aviragen’s operations since the date of the merger.
General and administrative expenses were $2.0 million for the first quarter of 2018, compared to $0.7 million for the first quarter of 2017. The increase was primarily due to the additional costs of being a public company, merger-related costs and the overlap of personnel during the transition of operations following the merger.
The excess of the estimated fair value of net assets acquired over the consideration paid for Aviragen resulted in a bargain purchase gain, which is included in the statement of operations. This is a non-cash item.