Full Press Release Details
WAVE Life Sciences Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Financial Results and
Provides Business Update
On track to file two INDs for lead programs in Huntington s disease in 2016;
Advancing over 20 discovery programs for genetically defined rare and other serious diseases
Strong financial position; existing cash to support pipeline progression, clinical programs
and operations well into 2018
Mass. (BUSINESS WIRE) March 30, 2016 WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ: WVE), a genetic medicines company focused on developing stereopure nucleic acid therapies to deliver new and exceptional treatment options for patients
impacted by genetic diseases, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2015 and provided a business update.
2015 was a year of tremendous growth for WAVE. We laid a solid foundation to support our planned expansion in 2016 and beyond. Our successful Series A
financing, Series B financing and IPO have provided us with the financial resources to advance our pipeline and commence multiple clinical programs over the next three years, said Paul Bolno, M.D., MBA, President and Chief Executive Officer at
WAVE Life Sciences. We continue to attract world-class talent to join a team dedicated to making meaningful medicines for patients.
Highlights and Outlook
Quarter and Full Year 2015 Financial Results and Financial Guidance
WAVE reported a net loss of $7.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to
$1.7 million in fourth quarter of 2014. The company reported a net loss of $19.2 million for the full year as compared to $5.2 million for the prior year. The increase in net loss for the fourth quarter and full year was largely due to increased
research and development efforts as well investments in the company s infrastructure as a publicly traded company.
Research and development expenses
were $3.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 as compared to $0.7 million for the same period in 2014. Research and development expenses for the full year were $9.1 million as compared to $2.4 million for the prior year. The increase in research
and development expenses for the fourth quarter and full year was primarily driven by increased spending on third party-related costs used to advance WAVE s pre-clinical and drug discovery activities, as well as increased salary and related
benefits costs due to the increase in employee headcount.
General and administrative expenses were $3.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 as
compared to $1.1 million for the same period in the prior year. General and administrative expenses were $10.4 million for the full year as compared to $3.0 million for the prior year. The increase in general and administrative expenses in the
fourth quarter and full year was primarily due to an increase in professional fees related to legal fees and accounting fees related to the IPO in November 2015, as well as the increase in headcount and the impact of stock-based compensation in
WAVE ended 2015 with $161.2 million in cash compared to $1.0 million as of December 31, 2014. The increase in cash was primarily the result of the
completion of the company s Series B financing in August 2015, which resulted in net proceeds of $62.5 million, and the completion of the company s IPO in November 2015, which resulted in net proceeds of $101.4 million.
Based on its current operating plan, WAVE expects that its existing cash resources will enable it to fund operating expenses and capital expenditure
requirements well into 2018.
About WAVE Life Sciences
WAVE Life Sciences is utilizing its innovative and proprietary synthetic chemistry drug development platform to design, develop and commercialize stereopure
nucleic acid therapeutics that precisely target the underlying cause of rare genetic diseases, delivering new treatment options for patients. Given the versatility of its chemistry platform, WAVE s pipeline is designed to span multiple
oligonucleotide modalities including antisense, exon-skipping, and single-stranded RNAi. For more information, please visit www.wavelifesciences.com and follow WAVE on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Forward Looking Information
This press release contains
forward-looking statements concerning our goals, beliefs, expectations, strategies, objectives and plans, and other statements that are not necessarily based on historical facts, including statements regarding the following: our filing of INDs and
commencing clinical trials; the future performance and results of our programs in clinical trials; our identification of future candidates and their therapeutic potential; the anticipated therapeutic benefits of stereopure therapies compared to
other therapies; our advancing of therapies across multiple modalities and the anticipated benefits of that strategy; our future growth; the potential of our stereopure approach and nucleic acid therapeutics; and our cash position supporting our
anticipated business activities. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including the following: the ability of our preclinical programs to produce data
sufficient to support the filing of INDs and the timing thereof; our ability to continue to build and maintain the company infrastructure and personnel needed to achieve our goals; the clinical results of our programs, which may not support further
development of product candidates; actions of regulatory agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of clinical studies; our effectiveness in managing future clinical trials and regulatory processes; the success of our platform
in identifying viable candidates; the continued development and acceptance of nucleic acid therapeutics as a class of drugs; our ability to demonstrate the therapeutic benefits of our stereopure candidates in clinical trials, including our ability
to develop candidates across multiple therapeutic modalities; our ability to obtain, maintain and protect intellectual property; our ability to enforce our patents against infringers and defend our patent portfolio against challenges from third
parties; our ability to raise additional capital as needed; and competition from others developing therapies for similar uses, as well as the information under the caption Risk Factors contained in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in other filings we make with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to update the information contained in this press release to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.
Chris Brinzey, 339-970-2843
Feinstein Kean Healthcare
Liz Melone, 617-256-6622
WAVE LIFE SCIENCES LTD.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)
| December 31, 2015 | December 31, 2014 | |||||||
| Assets | ||||||||
| Current Assets: | ||||||||
| Cash | $ | 161,220 | $ | 1,048 | ||||
| Accounts receivable | 200 | |||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 146 | 103 | ||||||
| Deferred tax assets | 18 | 64 | ||||||
| Deferred offering costs | 72 | |||||||
| Total current assets | 161,384 | 1,487 | ||||||
| Property and equipment, net | 2,789 | 1,269 | ||||||
| Deferred tax assets | 192 | 182 | ||||||
| Restricted cash | 1,055 | |||||||
| Other assets | 4 | |||||||
| Total assets | $ | 165,424 | $ | 2,938 | ||||
| Liabilities, Series A preferred shares and shareholders equity | ||||||||
| Current Liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | 2,811 | $ | 125 | ||||
| Accrued expenses and other current liabilities | 945 | 605 | ||||||
| Deferred revenue | 152 | |||||||
| Current portion of capital lease obligation | 62 | |||||||
| Total current liabilities | 3,818 | 882 | ||||||
| Long-term liabilities: | ||||||||
| Capital lease obligation, net of current portion | 78 | |||||||
| Other liabilities | 163 | 29 | ||||||
| Total long-term liabilities | 241 | 29 | ||||||
| Total liabilities | $ | 4,059 | $ | 911 | ||||
| Series A preferred shares, no par value; 3,901,348 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2015 | 7,874 | |||||||
| Shareholders equity: | ||||||||
| Series A preferred shares, no par value; 3,901,348 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2014 | 7,874 | |||||||
| Ordinary shares, no par value; 21,551,423 and 4,263,472 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively | 185,344 | 9,973 | ||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | 3,182 | |||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive income | 41 | 56 | ||||||
| Accumulated deficit | (35,076 | ) | (15,876 | ) | ||||
| Total shareholders equity | 153,491 | 2,027 | ||||||
| Total liabilities, Series A preferred shares, and shareholders equity | $ | 165,424 | $ | 2,938 |
WAVE LIFE SCIENCES LTD.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||
| 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 152 | $ | $ | ||||||||
| Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||
| Research and development | 9,057 | 2,395 | 1,920 | |||||||||
| General and administrative | 10,393 | 2,999 | 1,654 | |||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 19,450 | 5,394 | 3,574 | |||||||||
| Loss from operations | (19,298 | ) | (5,394 | ) | (3,574 | ) | ||||||
| Other income (expense): | ||||||||||||
| Interest income (expense), net | 86 | (12 | ) | (111 | ) | |||||||
| Other, net | 56 | 261 | 37 | |||||||||
| Total other income (expense) | 142 | 249 | (74 | ) | ||||||||
| Loss before income tax (provision) benefit | (19,156 | ) | (5,145 | ) | (3,648 | ) | ||||||
| Income tax (provision) benefit | (44 | ) | (84 | ) | 330 | |||||||
| Net loss | $ | (19,200 | ) | $ | (5,229 | ) | $ | (3,318 | ) | |||
| Net loss per share attributable to ordinary shareholders basic and diluted | $ | (1.83 | ) | $ | (1.34 | ) | $ | (1.90 | ) | |||
| Weighted-average ordinary shares used in computing net loss per share attributable to ordinary shareholders basic and diluted | 10,501,455 | 3,911,556 | 1,743,014 |
WAVE LIFE SCIENCES LTD.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||
| 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||||||
| Net loss | $ | (19,200 | ) | $ | (5,229 | ) | $ | (3,318 | ) | |||
| Other comprehensive income (loss): | ||||||||||||
| Foreign currency translation | (15 | ) | (169 | ) | 135 | |||||||
| Comprehensive loss | $ | (19,215 | ) | $ | (5,398 | ) | $ | (3,183 | ) |