ABUS - Arbutus trades higher as Q3 net loss narrows revenue grows on license deal

Arbutus Biopharma ( NASDAQ: ABUS ) stock was trading in the green on Wednesday following its Q3 results .

Total revenue grew +78.1% Y/Y to $5.95M, but missed analysts estimates.

The company said the increase was mainly due to $2.3M of revenue recognition from its license agreement with Qilu based on employee labor hours expended by the company during Q3 to perform its manufacturing obligations under the license agreement.

Net loss narrowed to -$17.57M, compared to -$19.16M in Q3 2021.

Research and development expenses increased to $20.06M, compared to $16.71M in Q3 2021. Arbutus  noted that the increase was primarily due to higher expenses related to ongoing AB-729 phase 2a trials, including the company's collaborations with Assembly and Vaccitech, and an increase in expenses for early-stage development programs, including AB-101 and AB-161.

As of Sept. 30, the company had cash, cash equivalents and investments in marketable securities of $190.2M, compared to $191M as of Dec. 31, 2021.

Outlook :

"Looking ahead, we are on-track to achieve our remaining 2022 milestones including reporting data from our Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating AB-729 with interferon, completing IND-enabling studies with AB-161, our RNAi destabilizer, and AB-101, our PD-L1 inhibitor, and nominating a compound that inhibits the SARS-CoV-2 nsp5 main protease and has pan-coronavirus inhibitor properties," said Arbutus' President and CEO William Collier.

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