Paris, March 12, 2010 – Cellectis (Alternext: ALCLS), the French genome engineering specialist, today published its consolidated financial results according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for the year ending December 31, 2009.
Key financial figures:
- Total operating revenues increased by 14% between 2008 and 2009 from €10.6 million to €12.1 million. This was driven by several major deals (Limagrain, Monsanto, Bayer Healthcare and BASF Plant Science) and progress with existing partners. In 2008, revenues had been driven primarily by a single contract (over €7 million from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals), which represented nearly 70% of total operating revenues.
- Total operating expenses rose by 48% between 2008 and 2009, up from €14.0 million to €20.8 million. This was due to increased investment in the company’s therapeutic programs in general and preclinical activities in particular.
- Operating activities consumed €4.9 million in cash in 2009, compared with a cash increase of €1.4 million in 2008. However, Cellectis strengthened its overall, year-on-year cash position by €16.9 million, up from €28.7 million at the end of 2008 to €45.6 million at the end of 2009 (mainly as a result of a successful capital increase in October 2009).
Commenting on the results, Cellectis Chief Financial Officer Marc Le Bozec said: “2009 was a banner year for Cellectis, as we continued to transform the company from a research hub founded 10 years ago to an organization fully committed to maximizing the value of its technology. We have laid important groundwork for growth and we plan to build on these foundations in the year ahead. We will achieve this by increasing our presence in the research tools market, securing recognition of our strong intellectual property via the signature of additional commercial agreements, growing our plant sciences subsidiary and advancing the development of meganucleases for therapeutic applications. Our strategy is to remain focused on the applications which have the greatest potential for shareholder value creation.”
Highlights for 2009:
- Production capacity: Significantly increased meganuclease production capacity, with ninety-six highly specific meganucleases produced for given genomic targets (compared with twelve in 2008). By constantly improving its engineering processes, Cellectis significantly raised both the quality and activity standards of its engineered products.
- Cellectis bioresearch: Launched five new kits for use in research and production and acquired a commercial license to Celonic’s Cemax® technology for accelerating product development and portfolio expansion. Additionally, a new collaboration was signed with tebu-bio for the distribution of Cellectis bioresearch’s targeted integration kits throughout Europe, a deal which is expected to further expand the technology’s user network.
- Agrobiotechnology: Completed three major deals, the most significant being a non-exclusive research and commercial license agreement with Monsanto, which included an upfront payment and an equity investment as well as milestone payments and royalties in the longer term.
- Therapeutic applications: Generated strong animal safety data supporting proof of concept for therapeutic applications of meganucleases. Results showing the potential of engineered meganucleases in drug discovery and gene therapy were published in major peer-reviewed scientific journals. ? Licensing and intellectual property: Initiated over twenty licensing discussions in Japan, Europe and USA. Reinforced the company’s intellectual property estate with the filing of fifteen new patent applications, the grant of four patents and the acquisition of the Vectocell® technology and its nine new patent families.
Cellectis will today hold a conference call and webcast, in English, to discuss its financial results for 2009 (5.00 pm CET; 4.00 pm GMT; 11.00 am EST)
About Cellectis
Cellectis is a pioneer in the field of genome engineering. The company designs and markets innovative tools -meganucleases. These molecular scissors enable targeted modifications to DNA, with applications in the research, biomanufacturing, agrobiotechnology and therapeutic sectors. To date, Cellectis has formed over 20 academic research partnerships and has established more than 50 agreements with pharmaceutical laboratories, seed producers and biotech companies across the world. The company holds exclusive rights to a portfolio of over 260 patents granted or pending.
Since 2007, Cellectis has been listed on the NYSE-Euronext Alternext market (code : ALCLS) in Paris and has secured over €70 million in funding since inception.
More information at www.cellectis.com
