Vascular Biogenics posts 2Q earnings beat; says it has enough resources for three years

Vascular Biogenics Ltd (NASDAQ:VBLT) said on Thursday its second-quarter earnings came in lower than expected but added that it had enough funds for its operations to develop anti-cancer drugs in the coming three years.

In a statement, it said it had cash, cash equivalents and short-term bank deposits of US$58.5mln as of June 30, 2018. The company estimates that there is enough cash, cash equivalents and short-term bank deposits to fund operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for more than three years.

Research and development expenses for the quarter ended June 30, 2018, were approximately US$2.9mln, compared to approximately US$3.2mln in the same period in 2017. 

The company said earnings per share reported a loss of US$0.13, lower than the expected loss of US$0.18

Shares of Vascular were up 5.8% to US$1.70 in premarket trade.

READ: Vascular Biogenics plunges as flagship brain cancer drug fails late-stage study

Vascular continued to treat patients in an ongoing Phase 3 trial, evaluating VB-111 in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. An efficacy interim readout is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2019. The company said it closed a US$15.5mln registered direct offering, which will enable it to continue the development of VB-111 in ovarian cancer, and to advance the pipeline for the next three years.

Vascular presented positive new data on the company’s MOSPD2 platform technology in oncology and inflammation in international conferences and published a paper highlighting MOSPD2 as a potential new target for therapy of solid tumors such as breast cancer.

The company likewise presented a late-breaking study demonstrating a novel bi-specific antibody that induces immune-cell mediated killing of cancer cells by binding to a tumor membrane receptor at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2018 annual meeting.

Tel Aviv-based Vascular Biogenics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of treatments for cancer. 

Contact Rene Pastor at [email protected]

Story by ProactiveInvestors