On May 10, 2016 Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPXX) reported business highlights and financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 (Press release, Celator Pharmaceuticals, MAY 10, 2016, View Source [SID:1234512203]).

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"The first quarter of 2016 was transformative for Celator," said Scott Jackson, chief executive officer of Celator. "Our Phase 3 trial of VYXEOS demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival, among other benefits, in patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and we plan to submit a New Drug Application (NDA) to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the end of the third quarter of this year. We look forward to presenting additional data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) annual meeting next month. In addition, following the positive Phase 3 results, we raised capital that we believe is sufficient to fund planned operations into 2018."

Celator anticipates achieving the following key objectives:

Continue to execute on the VYXEOS commercial readiness in the United States;
Submit the New Drug Application (NDA) for VYXEOS by the end of Q3 2016;
Continue to expand the clinical development of VYXEOS via investigator-initiated studies, oncology cooperative groups and company-sponsored studies;
Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date (assuming FDA grants priority review) by mid-2017; and
United States commercial launch (assuming FDA approval in mid-2017) in Q3 2017.
Recent Business and First Quarter 2016 Highlights

April – Celator announced that a late-breaking abstract was submitted to ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) and accepted for an oral presentation on June 4, 2016 at 3:00 pm CT and will be presented by Dr. Jeffrey Lancet from H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute.
March – Celator announced that Phase 3 trial data for VYXEOS in patients with high-risk AML demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival and induction response rate and meaningfully lower 60-day mortality. There was no substantial difference in Grade 3-5 adverse events between VYXEOS and the control arm (7+3 regimen). The company plans to submit an NDA for VYXEOS by the end of the third quarter.
March – Celator completed an underwritten public offering of 4,600,000 shares of the company’s common stock, resulting in net proceeds of approximately $40.6 million.
Financial Highlights

Cash Position: Cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2016 were $67.5 million, compared to $23.3 million as of December 31, 2015. The increase was primarily due to the underwritten public offering that netted approximately $40.6 million during the first quarter of 2016 and $9.8 million in net proceeds from the issuance of common stock through an at-the-market equity offering program. Management believes that the cash and cash equivalents at March 31, 2016 will be sufficient to meet estimated working capital requirements and fund planned operations into 2018.
R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses were $2.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 consistent with the same period in 2015.
G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses were $2.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016, as compared to $1.8 million for the same period of 2015. The increase was primarily attributable to increases in compensation, pre-launch commercial activities, public company expenses and professional fees.
Net Loss: Net loss increased to $5.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016, from $4.7 million for the same period in 2015.