OREANDA-NEWS. Editas Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT), a leading genome editing company, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016, and provided an update on recent accomplishments and upcoming events.

“We have made significant progress this year in building Editas as a company and in advancing both our pipeline and platform,” said Katrine Bosley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Editas Medicine.  “We are excited by the new data from our Duchenne muscular dystrophy program, as well as the additional results from our LCA10 program and our new data in hematopoietic stem cells.  In addition, we were also delighted to announce our agreement with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics to discover and develop genomic medicines aimed at correcting the underlying mutations in this debilitating disease.”

Recent Highlights    

  • Announced a three-year agreement with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. (CFFT), the nonprofit affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, pursuant to which CFFT will pay up to $5 million to Editas Medicine to support the discovery and development of CRISPR/Cas9-based medicines for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF).  In addition, Editas will access CFFT’s extensive network of CF scientific advisors and clinical researchers.
  • Presented data on Editas’ cancer, hematology, ophthalmology, and neuromuscular disease programs at two scientific conferences, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2016 Annual Meeting and the 19th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT), including:
    • Leber congenital amaurosis 10 (LCA10) program:  Demonstration of Cas9-mediated editing of primary fibroblasts derived from LCA10 patients resulted in elimination of the target CEP290 gene mutation as well as restoration of full-length protein expression.  Evidence of guide RNAs with no detectable off-targets was also presented.
    • Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) program:  The first data from the Company’s program to discover medicines to treat the underlying genetic cause of DMD showing that pairs of guide RNAs have the ability to remove exon 51 of the dystrophin gene with greater than 30% efficiency.  These data demonstrated the potential for a genome editing approach to address the genetic changes responsible for causing the disease in approximately 10-15% of patients.
    • Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs):  New data demonstrating long-term, robust engraftment in vivo after Cas9-mediated genome editing.  Importantly, the data also show that editing did not alter hematopoietic reconstitution or differentiation properties in comparison to untreated control HSPCs.
  • Announced that the Company has achieved a $2.5 million milestone under its collaboration with Juno Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: JUNO) for technical progress in a research program to create engineered T cells with chimeric antigen receptors and T cell receptors to treat cancer. 

Upcoming Events

  • Editas management will present a company overview and host meetings with investors at the Jefferies Healthcare Conference to be held June 7-10 and the JMP Securities Life Sciences Conference to be held June 21-22.

First Quarter 2016 Financial Results

Cash and cash equivalents at March 31, 2016 were $229.2 million, compared to $143.2 million at December 31, 2015.  This includes total net proceeds of approximately $97.7 million from the Company's initial public offering of its common stock in February 2016. 

For the first quarter 2016, net loss attributable to common stockholders was $17.8 million, or $0.80 per share, compared to $5.4 million, or $2.75 per share, for the same period in 2015.

  • Collaboration revenue for the first quarter 2016 was approximately $0.8 million, resulting from reimbursement for research and development expenses under our collaboration with Juno Therapeutics entered into in May 2015.  No collaboration revenue was recognized in the first quarter of 2015.
  • Research and development expenses for the first quarter 2016 were approximately $8.9 million, compared to $1.9 million for the same period in 2015.  The increase was largely due to employee and non-employee related expenses, as well as process and platform development expenses.
  • General and administrative expenses were $9.8 million for the first quarter 2016, compared to $3.3 million for the same period in 2015.  The increase was largely due to legal fees to support our patents and patent applications, as well as employee compensation.

About Editas Medicine

Editas Medicine is a leading genome editing company dedicated to treating patients with genetically-defined diseases by correcting their disease-causing genes. The Company was founded by world leaders in genome editing, and its mission is to translate the promise of genome editing science into a broad class of transformative genomic medicines to benefit the greatest number of patients.

 
 
 
 
EDITAS MEDICINE, INC.
Consolidated Statement of Operations
(amounts in thousands, except per share and share data)
(Unaudited)
               
      Three Months Ended 
      March 31,
      2016   2015
           
Collaboration revenue   $   805     $   -  
Operating expenses:            
  Research and development       8,882         1,888  
  General and administrative       9,762         3,273  
  Total operating expenses       18,644         5,161  
Operating loss       (17,839 )       (5,161 )
Other income (expense), net:            
  Other expense, net       (30 )       (99 )
  Interest income (expense), net       124         (31 )
  Total other income (expense), net       94         (130 )
Net loss and comprehensive loss   $   (17,745 )   $   (5,291 )
Accretion of redeemable convertible            
  preferred stock to redemption value       (47 )       (95 )
Net loss attributable to common   $   (17,792 )   $   (5,386 )
  Stockholders            
Net loss per share attributable to common        
  stockholders, basic and diluted   $   (0.80 )   $   (2.75 )
Weighted-average common shares            
  outstanding, basic and diluted       22,280,797         1,957,378  
 
 
EDITAS MEDICINE, INC.
Selected Consolidated Balance Sheet Items
(amounts in thousands)
(Unaudited)
               
      March 31,   December 31,
      2016   2015
         
Cash and cash equivalents   $ 229,204   $   143,180  
Working capital     221,964       138,060  
Total assets     248,808       149,363  
Deferred revenue     25,479       25,321  
Redeemable convertible preferred stock   -       199,915  
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)     201,363       (83,114 )