What you need to know about updating Corbus Pharmaceuticals' first quarter results – The Motley Fool

Who would not want revenue growth to be incredibly high from one year to the next? That's what Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings (NASDAQ: CRBP) when announcing its fourth quarter results in 2018 in March. The catch, though, was that Corbus did not have all previous year's business figure.

Corbus announced its first quarter results before the market opening on Thursday. This time, the company had some revenue compared to the same quarter of last year. But income was not the most important financial measure. Here's what you need to know about Corbus Q1 results.

In numbers

Corbus announced a business turnover of 1.9 million USD for the first quarter, an increase of 90% over the same period of the previous year. Revenues reported by the company were higher than analysts' average estimates of $ 1.53 million.

What was Corbus's net profit in the first quarter? Biotech recorded a net loss of $ 26.2 million, or $ 0.43 per share, under GAAP, compared to $ 11.7 million or $ 0.21 per share for the same period in 2018. The consensus analyst estimate was a net loss of $ 0.27 per quarter. share.

Corbus closed the first quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $ 89.9 million. This is an increase from the $ 71 million available as at March 31, 2019.

Behind the numbers

The company's revenues have increased due to the development rewards that Corbus has received. In the first quarter, Corbus received $ 900,000 from its development grant agreement with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Corbus' net income deteriorated in the first quarter despite the rise in its revenue. Operating expenses rose 82% to $ 28.4 million. This increase is due in large part to the higher expenditures on the Company's clinical studies, the costs of manufacturing and supplying lenabasum, a drug used in the treatment of cystic fibrosis, for clinical trials, staff costs and the sharp increase in non-stock compensation costs.

The most important financial measure for Corbus in the first quarter was probably the improvement in its cash flow. Biotech generated an additional $ 40 million in gross proceeds through a public call for savings for its shares. Corbus also received an upfront payment of $ 27 million from its license agreement with Kaken Pharmaceuticals.

The company experienced several key developments this quarter, including:

• Complete enrollment in Resolve-1 Phase 3 study of lenabasum for the treatment of systemic sclerosis.
• Modification of the primary endpoint in the Resolve-1 study after a meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
• Add Rachelle Jacques to the board of directors.

Look to the front

Corbus plans to begin clinical studies for its second candidate, CRB-4001, later this year. The drug will be evaluated in the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD). Corbus is also working to select other candidates for clinical development in its portfolio of preclinical compounds targeting the endocannabinoid system.

The results of the company's Phase 3 Resolve-1 study on lenabasum in the treatment of systemic scleroderma should be published in the summer of 2020. If all goes well with this study, Corbus plans to FDA approval of this drug in the fall of 2021. The company also plans to announce the first results of its Phase 2b study on lenabasum in the treatment of cystic fibrosis in 2020.