Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (ABUS) has experienced an increase of 9.80% in the pre-market. However, the last trading session closed at $4.08, with a decline of 1.69%.
New Appointment of Vice President
On 21st September 2021, ABUS reported that Lisa M. Caperelli is the new Vice President of Investor Relations. Ms. Caperelli has 20 years of experience directing the design and implementation of complete investor relations. She has also worked in corporate communications programs for a variety of publicly listed biotechnology businesses at various stages of development. Moreover, she most recently worked for Harmony Biosciences as an Associate Vice President.
Lisa is happy to join the ABUS team, which has extensive expertise in creating antivirals and is dedicated to finding treatments for chronic HBV infection and coronaviruses. She is also looking forward to working with the investing community as they continue to progress their pipeline.
ABUS announced Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results
ABUS announced second-quarter 2021 financial results on 5th August 2021. According to the report, ABUS had $121.3 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments, compared to $123.3 million at the end of the previous fiscal year. ABUS also spent $31.9 million on operational operations in the six months ended June 30, 2021. Moreover, the Company estimates that its $121.3 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments will be enough to support operations through the third quarter of 2022. The research and development costs were $15.4 million, up from $10.5 million at the same time in 2020.
In addition, the general and administrative costs were $4.4 million, up from $3.6 million in the same period in 2020. Non-cash stock-based compensation costs and professional fees accounted for the majority of the increase. The Company also has outstanding shares of approximately 97.7 million. Lastly, ABUS has about 13.3 million stock options and 1.164 million convertible preferred shares outstanding.
Phase 2a Clinical Trial
ABUS announced that it has received authorization to Proceed with an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for AB-729 on 7th July 2021. Experts will assess the safety and effectiveness of AB-729 in a Phase 2a proof-of-concept clinical study in CHB patients. The approval of our IND application is a significant step forward for AB-729 and helps ABUS achieve its goal of establishing value as a cornerstone therapy for CHB patients.
The experts will also investigate the safety and antiviral efficacy of the AB-729 open-label, multicenter Phase 2a study. The experiment will enroll 40 stable NA-suppressed, HBeAg negative, non-cirrhotic CHB participants. Subjects will be randomized into one of four groups after receiving AB-729 for 24 weeks (60 mg SC every 8 weeks).
