On May 14, 2018 Mustang Bio, Inc. ("Mustang") (NASDAQ:MBIO), a Fortress Biotech (NASDAQ:FBIO) Company focused on the development of novel immunotherapies based on proprietary chimeric antigen receptor engineered T cell (CAR-T) technology, reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 (Press release, Mustang Bio, MAY 14, 2018, View Source [SID1234526588]).
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Manuel Litchman, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Mustang, said, "In the first quarter of 2018, Mustang continued to execute on our strategy of developing a portfolio of differentiated CAR-T therapies for patients with aggressive forms of cancer. We are pleased to report significant progress on the build-out of our proprietary CAR-T cell processing facility at UMass Medicine Science Park in Worcester, Mass., which is on track to be fully operational and ready to process cells by the end of the year. We are also transitioning two preclinical CAR-T programs at City of Hope into the clinic in 2018, and plan to file our first Investigational New Drug Application during the fourth quarter. In March, we were delighted to announce the promotion of Sadik Kassim, Ph.D., to Chief Scientific Officer, and Knut Niss, Ph.D., to Chief Technology Officer, and look forward to continuing to work together to innovate in cell processing and to explore opportunities to leverage best-in-class science to strengthen our CAR-T pipeline. To this end, we will expand our internal research capabilities and plan to hire a team of scientists that will be fully dedicated to preclinical and translational research efforts."
Financial Results:
As of March 31, 2018, Mustang’s consolidated cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments (certificates of deposit) and restricted cash totaled $55.3 million, compared to $61.5 million as of December 31, 2017, a decrease of $6.2 million for the quarter.
Research and development expenses were $4.3 million for the first quarter of 2018, compared to $0.7 million for the first quarter of 2017. Non-cash, stock-based compensation expenses included in research and development were $1.5 million for first quarter of 2018, compared to $0 million for the first quarter of 2017.
Research and development expenses from license acquisitions totaled $0.1 million for the first quarter of 2018, compared to $0.6 million for the first quarter of 2017.
General and administrative expenses were $2.1 million for the first quarter of 2018, compared to $2.0 million for the first quarter of 2017. Non-cash, stock-based compensation expenses included in general and administrative expenses were $0.5 million for the first quarter of 2018, compared to $1.2 million for the first quarter of 2017.
Net loss attributable to common stockholders was $6.3 million, or $0.24 per share, for the first quarter of 2018, compared to $3.2 million, or $0.14 per share, for the first quarter of 2017.