Interim Report for the period January - March 2020

STOCKHOLM, April 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Operations performing according to plan

Key events during the first quarter 2020

• As of today, BioArctic has not experienced any noteworthy disruptions to its operations owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Financial summary January - March 2020

• Net revenues for the period amounted to MSEK 36.4 (63.4), a decrease of 27 MSEK
• Operating profit amounted to 3.8 MSEK (17.3) and the operating margin was 10.4 percent (27.3)
• Profit for the period amounted to MSEK 3.6 (13.6) and earnings per share were SEK 0.04 (0.15)
• Cash flow from operating activities amounted to MSEK -36.3 MSEK (333.6)
• Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period amounted to MSEK 1,077.3 (1,255.6)             

Comments from the CEO

"Our ambition is to develop the medicines of the future that improve life for people with disorders of the central nervous system."

"BioArctic's work towards providing patients suffering from neurodegenerative disorders access to effective treatments and improved diagnostics continues to make solid progress. The impact of COVID-19 on society at large, on the global economy and on people's daily lives is both alarming and difficult to process. Under the present circumstances, I am pleased that we have so far been able to continue our operations without noteworthy disruptions. Our success in building up cash reserves of more than SEK 1 billion is a great source of comfort in a situation where the financial markets are rife with uncertainty. BioArctic has a business model in which our partners conduct and finance the major clinical trials in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. This makes it possible for us to focus on our own innovative pre-clinical projects and on developing the medicines of the future for patients with disorders of the central nervous system."

"Eisai, our partner in the field of Alzheimer's disease, continues to show a high degree of commitment to our most advanced drug candidate, BAN2401, and the program continues to expand. BAN2401 is being evaluated in a confirmatory Phase 3 study in patients with early Alzheimer's disease, and we note that the study has recently been expanded into several more countries. It is especially gratifying for us to note that Sweden is also part of the study, and that the first patients have now been enrolled. The aim with the Phase 3 study is to confirm the positive results of the Phase 2b study, as well as to form the basis for market registration. Eisai expects results from the study to become available in 2022."

At the same time, the open-label extension study continues with patients who took part in the previously completed Phase 2b study. The promising initial results were presented late last year and we look forward to the continued follow-ups. Furthermore, Eisai is preparing a broad Phase 3 program (AHEAD 3-45) in partnership with the Alzheimer's Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC) aimed at preventing Alzheimer's disease by administering BAN2401 in the earliest stages of disease development. The program consists of two sub-studies with approximately 1,000 and 400 subjects, respectively.

In the Parkinson's disease area, our partner AbbVie has initiated recruitment for the second part of the ongoing Phase 1 program, in which our outlicensed drug candidate ABBV-0805 will be evaluated in patients for the first time. In parallel, we are focusing on delivering the subsequent projects that are included in this successful collaboration with AbbVie. The reputable periodical Drug Discovery Today recently published an article regarding the effective collaboration between BioArctic and AbbVie in Parkinson's disease. Being seen as an appreciated collaborating partner is a mark of quality for BioArctic and is important for our future projects and potential partners. It is our hope that ABBV-0805 will be one of the first disease-modifying treatments for Parkinson's disease, which is devastating to quality of life for patients and which incurs large costs to society.

Our pre-clinical portfolio also continued to develop well during the first quarter, with the added project in Alzheimer's disease and a project that is believed could impact several different neurodegenerative disorders. At the same time, we are working further on our diagnostics projects, the purpose of which is to identify people with neurodegenerative disorders at an early stage. Research is ongoing into our unique blood-brain barrier technology, which improves the passage of antibody drugs into the brain. In pace with securing patent protection for our projects, we will become increasingly transparent in terms of the progress we are making.

Our innovative and broad portfolio, the extensive collaborations with international pharma companies, our support in the academic community and a strong cash position make BioArctic a unique Swedish biopharma company. Our projects, focused on disorders of the central nervous system, are tremendously important in our ambition to improve life for these patients.

Gunilla Osswald

CEO, BioArctic AB

Invitation to presentation

BioArctic invites to an audiocast with teleconference (in English) for investors, analysts and media today, April 22, at 09:30 - 10:30 a.m. CET. CEO Gunilla Osswald and CFO Jan Mattsson will present BioArctic, comment on the interim report and answer questions.

Webcast:  https://tv.streamfabriken.com/bioarctic-q1-2020

To participate in the conference, please call:

+46-8-505-583-59 (Sweden),

+45-781-501-09 (Denmark),

+31-107-129-163 (Netherlands),

+47-235-002-36 (Norway),

+41-225-675-632 (Switzerland),

+44-333-300-9261 (UK),

+49-692-222-0377 (Germany) or

+1-833-526-8380 (USA)

The webcast will be available afterwards on demand at BioArctic's corporate website www.bioarctic.com , Investors, Financial presentations.

This information is information that BioArctic AB (publ) is obliged to disclose pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons above, at 08:00 a.m. CET on April 22, 2020. 

About BioArctic AB

BioArctic AB (publ) is a Swedish research-based biopharma company focusing on disease-modifying treatments and reliable biomarkers and diagnostics for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. BioArctic focuses on innovative treatments in areas with high unmet medical needs. The company was founded in 2003 based on innovative research from Uppsala University, Sweden. Collaborations with universities are of great importance to the company together with its strategically important global partners in the Alzheimer (Eisai) and Parkinson (AbbVie) projects. The project portfolio is a combination of fully funded projects run in partnership with global pharmaceutical companies and innovative in-house projects with significant market- and out-licensing potential. BioArctic's B-share is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Mid Cap (ticker: BIOA B). For more information about BioArctic, please visit www.bioarctic.com.

For more information, please contact :
Gunilla Osswald
CEO
[email protected]
tel +46-8-695-69-30

Jan Mattsson
CFO
[email protected]
tel +46-70-352-27-72

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SOURCE BioArctic