BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: BCLI), a leading developer of adult stem cell technologies for neurodegenerative diseases, today announced financial results and provided a business update for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015.
Tony Fiorino, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of BrainStorm, stated, "During the first quarter, we made good progress in our amyotrophic lateral sclerosis clinical development program for NurOwn®. We started the quarter by reporting positive top line results from our Israeli phase 2a trial, and presented the study at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in April. Our randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial in the U.S. continues to enroll according to plan after a positive Data and Safety Monitoring Board review in February. We have also had some important manufacturing developments in 2015. We are completing the validation of our cryopreservation process, which will allow us to produce multiple doses of NurOwn® from a single bone marrow aspiration, and we have demonstrated that NurOwn® cells are stable for 72 hours after manufacture, which should enable, for future studies, transportation of NurOwn® across substantial distances."
"With regard to our finances, we netted approximately $15 million in warrant exercises during the first quarter," continued Dr. Fiorino. We believe these funds, in addition to the $1.1 million grant from Israel's Office of the Chief Scientist, provide more than sufficient resources to complete our U.S. phase 2 clinical trial in 2016, to run our planned multi-dose study, and to pursue additional research and development initiatives including new clinical, preclinical and manufacturing projects."
Financial Results for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2015
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $21.3 million at March 31, 2015, compared with $8.5 million at December 31, 2014, an increase driven by proceeds received from warrant exercises in the first quarter and grants received, offset by operating expenses.
Net loss for the first quarter of 2015 was $2.2 million, or $0.12 per share, compared with a net loss of $2.1 million, or $0.18 per share, for the first quarter of 2014.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2015, we reported total operating costs and expenses of $2.2 million, compared with $1.0 million a year ago. Research and development costs in the quarter were $1.2 million, up from $680,000 in the first quarter of 2014, an increase driven primarily by costs associated with the U.S. phase 2 clinical trial. General and administrative costs in the quarter were $960,000, compared to $351,000 in the first quarter of 2014. This increase was driven by increases in payroll, travel, Delaware franchise tax, stock costs, and an increase of $236,000 in stock-based compensation costs.
Financial expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2015 was $31,000, compared to $1.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014, which was mainly attributed to the revaluation of warrants issued to investors in an August 2013 public offering. As of January 6, 2015, these warrants had been exchanged, redeemed or exercised, thus the liability related to the warrants has been cancelled.
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