On May 9, 2019 Sophiris Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: SPHS) (the "Company," "We" or "Sophiris"), a biopharmaceutical company developing topsalysin (PRX302), a first-in-class, pore-forming protein, in late-stage clinical trials for the treatment of patients with urological diseases, reported financial results for the first quarter of 2019 (Press release, Sophiris Bio, MAY 9, 2019, View Source [SID1234536042]).
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"We continue to have dialog with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) regarding the design for a potential Phase 3 clinical trial, which we developed with input from our scientific advisory board for the treatment of localized prostate cancer," said Randall E. Woods, president and CEO of Sophiris. "We anticipate obtaining formal scientific advice from the EMA before the end of the second quarter and look forward to taking the next step in the clinical development of topsalysin for the focal treatment of localized prostate cancer before the end of the year. We have cash runway to continue operations into September and believe that the ideal funding option for a potential registration Phase 3 clinical trial will either be a potential development partnership or other strategic transaction."
Financial Results:
At March 31, 2019, the Company had cash, cash equivalents and securities available-for-sale of $9.0 million and working capital of $4.7 million. The Company expects that its cash and cash equivalents and securities available-for-sale will be sufficient to fund its operations through September 2019, assuming no new clinical trials are initiated and the Company continues operating as a going concern. The Company will require significant funding to advance topsalysin in clinical development. As of March 31, 2019, the outstanding principal balance of the Company’s term loan was $7.0 million. The Company began making principal payments on its term loan in April 2019.
The Company reported a net loss of $2.4 million or ($0.08) per share for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to net loss of $3.3 million or ($0.11) per share for the three months ended March 31, 2018.
Research and development expenses
Research and development expenses were $1.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to $3.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018. The decrease in research and development costs is primarily attributable to decreases in the costs associated with manufacturing activities for topsalysin, and to a lesser extent, a decrease in clinical costs associated with our Phase 2b clinical trial of topsalysin for localized prostate cancer. Included in the research and development costs for the three months ended March 31, 2019, were costs associated with the completion of a fill finish campaign at commercial scale which produced drug product for future clinical trials. Analysis for release of this recently filled drug product is underway.
General and administrative expenses
General and administrative expenses were $1.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to $1.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018.
Gain on revaluation of the warrant liability
Gain on revaluation of the warrant liability was $0.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to $1.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018. As the Company’s warrants may require the Company to pay the warrant holder cash under certain provisions of the warrant, the Company accounts for the warrants as a liability, and the Company is required to calculate the fair value of these warrants each reporting date. Certain inputs utilized in the Company’s Black-Scholes fair value calculation may fluctuate in future periods based upon factors which are outside of the Company’s control. A significant change in one or more of these inputs used in the calculation of the fair value may cause a significant change to the fair value of the Company’s warrant liability, which could also result in a material non-cash gain or loss being reported in the Company’s consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss.