On May 13, 2021 Relay Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: RLAY), a clinical-stage precision medicine company transforming the drug discovery process by combining leading edge computational and experimental technologies, reported first quarter 2021 financial results (Press release, Relay Therapeutics, MAY 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234579929]).
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"Since the start of 2021, we have been laser-focused on our mission for the year – execution. We continue to make progress on our clinical programs – RLY-1971, our SHP2 inhibitor partnered with Genentech, and RLY-4008, our FGFR2 inhibitor. Our PI3Kα mutant selective program is anticipated to enter IND enabling studies this year and we continue to advance our pipeline of precision oncology and genetic diseases programs," said Sanjiv Patel, M.D., president and chief executive officer. "We also made our first acquisition, ZebiAI, as we look to continually bolster our Dynamo platform and become a strategic partner of choice for emerging technologies."
Recent Corporate Highlights
Presented preclinical data for RLY-4008, a potent, selective and oral small molecule inhibitor of FGFR2, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2021
Completed the IND transfer of RLY-1971 to Genentech, and Genentech remains on track for the start of a combination trial with their KRAS G12C inhibitor, GDC-6036, in 2021
Acquired ZebiAI, a pioneer in applying massive experimental DNA encoded library data sets to power machine learning for drug discovery (ML-DEL)
Strengthened clinical leadership with the appointments of Tara O’Meara as senior vice president of clinical development operations and Charles Ferté as global medical lead, RLY-4008
Expanded computational leadership with the addition of Patrick Riley as senior vice president of artificial intelligence
First Quarter 2021 Financial Results
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Investments: As of March 31, 2021, cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled approximately $726.1 million, compared to $678.1 million as of December 31, 2020. The Company expects its current cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund its current operating plan into 2024. The increase in cash is primarily due to the receipt of Genentech’s $75 million upfront payment in the first quarter, partially offset by cash used to fund our operations.
R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses were $30.6 million for the first quarter of 2021, as compared to $21.7 million for the first quarter of 2020. This increase was primarily due to $5.5 million of additional employee related costs, including an increase in stock-based compensation of $3.3 million, $1.7 million related to increased clinical trial expenses associated with RLY-1971 and RLY-4008, and $1.3 million related to our pre-clinical candidates.
G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses were $12.7 million for the first quarter of 2021, as compared to $4.8 million for the first quarter of 2020. This increase was primarily due to $6.2 million of increased personnel costs, including increased stock-based compensation of $5.0 million, to support our infrastructure and $1.7 million related to increases in other general and administrative expenses primarily attributed to an increase in insurance expense.
Net Loss: Net loss was $42.2 million for the first quarter of 2021, or a net loss per share of $0.47, as compared to a net loss of $24.9 million for the first quarter of 2020, or a net loss per share of $5.99.