Arbutus Biopharma Corp. (ABUS), a biopharmaceutical company, has seen an increase of 9.82% in aftermarket trading session. As a result of that, ABUS stock is changing hands at $4.25 at the time of this writing. This increase has come after ABUS stock gained 15.18% in Thursday’s regular trading session and closed the day at $3.87.
Q2 2021 financial results
On the 5th of August, ABUS reported results for the second quarter of the fiscal year 2021, as well as for six month period, ended 30th June. According to details, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $121.3 million at the end of the quarter. The operating expenses at the end of six month period stood at $31.9 million. The company said that it hopes the cash and cash equivalents would be enough to fund its operations during the third quarter. The net loss during the quarter stood at $22.7 million, or $0.23 per basic and diluted share. Compared to that, during the equivalent period of 2020, net loss was $17.1 million, or $0.25 per basic and diluted share. The research and development expenses during the quarter stood at $15.4 million, as compared to $10.5 million for the same period of 2020. General and administrative expenses were $4.4 million, as compared to $3.6 million for an equivalent period of 2020. William Collier, President and Chief Executive Officer of Arbutus said that the company had a productive second quarter.
Authorization from FDA
On the 7th of July, ABUS announced to have received the authorization from US FDA to proceed with its Investigational New Drug (IND) application. The authorization was granted for AB-729 in a Phase 2a clinical trial. The company said that the clinical trial would be a major milestone in the evaluation of the efficiency and safety of AB-729. William Collier stated on the occasion that the acceptance of IND is a major breakthrough in AB-729 and it would greatly aid the company’s objective to establish itself in the pharmaceutical market.
ABUS partnership with VACC
On the 6th of July, ABUS and Vaccitech plc (VACC) announced to have entered into an agreement of clinical trial collaboration. The agreement included evaluation of therapeutic combination for the treatment of Hepatitis B virus infection (HBV) over the individuals who would already be receiving Nrtl therapy. Both the companies said that the trial would evaluate the safety and efficiency of Arbutus’s proprietary GalNAc delivered RNAi therapeutic, AB-729, followed by Vaccitech’s proprietary immunotherapeutic, VTP-300, in NrtI-suppressed subjects with CHB. The clinical trial was expected to initiate in the second half of 2021. Gaston Picchio, Chief Development Officer at Arbutus, said that the combination would allow both companies to evaluate the potential mechanism of action.
What’s ahead for ABUS?
Statistics reveal a very positive picture of ABUS stock. The stock is expected to gain an increase of 65% in EPS this year. Recent past performances also indicate good times for ABUS. The stock rose by some 23% merely during the last month. So, based on these statistics, it could be said quite easily that the future has something great in store for ABUS stock.
