Juno Therapeutics Loss Widens

Research-and-development expenses surged to $60.2 million in the latest period, compared with $6.5 a year earlier, while acquisitions accounted for $77 million of spending in the latest period.

Shares, down nearly 19% this year, fell 2.7% to $41.24 in late trading.

The Seattle clinical-stage company is part of a new wave of biopharmaceutical companies that focus on bioengineered T-cell technologies, which ramp up the power of the cells to see and attack tumors.

Juno, which is yet to post a profit, doesn’t have any drugs on the market. But last month, the Food and Drug Administration cleared the way for the company to launch a mid-stage trial of its most advanced product candidate, JCAR015, to treat adult patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

In June, it secured an initial investment from cancer-drug company Celgene Corp. for a 10% stake in Juno as part of a 10-year collaboration to develop cancer immunotherapies.

Overall, Juno reported a loss of $66 million, or 79 cents a share, compared with a loss of $22.8 million, or $5.80 a share, a year earlier. Excluding upfront payments related to license agreements and other items, the loss was 35 cents, compared with $1.90 a share a year earlier.

Shares outstanding, used to calculate per-share profit, surged to 83.7 million, from 6.6 million a year earlier.

Revenue was $12.5 million, largely from its sublicense agreement with Novartis AG. Juno reported no revenue for the year-ago period.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters projected a loss of 31 cents a share on $2 million in revenue.

Juno ended the quarter with $313.4 million in cash and other investments that can be quickly turned into cash, compared with $447.6 million as of March 31 and $474.1 million as of Dec. 31.

Aug. 12, 2015 4:40 p.m. ET

Write to Maria Armental at [email protected]

Source: Wall Street Journal Health