New Haven neuro-drug maker Biohaven Pharmaceuticals Holding Co. Ltd. widened its losses in 2018 as the biopharma expanded its headcount and continued to march toward regulatory approval for a new migraine treatment.
For the year ended Dec. 31, Biohaven reported a net loss of $240.8 million, or $6.14 per share, compared to $139.2 million, or $5 per share, for 2017.
For the fourth quarter, Biohaven posted losses of $54.6 million or $1.33 a share, compared to $27.1 million, or 75 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
The company reported $264.2 million in cash, up from $131.5 million in 2017, saying it had sufficient capital to fund operating expenses and other commitments through the end of 2020.
The company attributed its losses, which are typical for young bioscience firms that lack commercial products, primarily to higher R&D spending and personnel costs.
R&D expenditures rose to $190 million for the year, up from $89.4 million in 2017. For the quarter, research spending rose to $38 million from $22.7 million a year ago. Biohaven said the increase included a $50 million payment to Bristol Myers-Squibb to restructure its licensing agreement on Biohaven’s two cutting-edge migraine drugs.
The company also spent an additional $27.6 million on its lead migraine drug candidate rimegepant, which is finishing up late-stage clinical trials. The company expects to seek U.S. Food & Drug Association approval for the drug this year.
Meanwhile, general and administrative expenses for the year rose to $34.6 million from $18.1 million in 2017, attributed to higher personnel costs. For the quarter, G&A expenses nearly doubled compared to a year ago, reaching $10 million. The company said it increased its headcount from 39 to 63 employees during 2018.
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New Haven-based BioXcel Therapeutics Inc. said Monday it is collaborating with pharma giant Pfizer and a Germany-based drug company on a new triple-combination therapy for pancreatic cancer.
BioXcel said it will study the safety and effectiveness of BioXcel’s immunotherapy drug BXCL701 combined with California-based Nektar Therapeutics’ NKTR-214 and avelumab, a checkpoint inhibitor co-developed by Pfizer and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. (The company is not affiliated with U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co.)
Under the collaboration, BioXcel will be responsible for initiating and managing the clinical program, with the other companies supplying their respective drug compounds. BioXcel and Nektar, which have already been partnering on combination therapies, will share development costs.
The combination of the three drugs is designed to target multiple dimensions of the immune system to fight hard-to-treat tumors, officials said.
Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com
