By now, most pharma and biotech companies across the U.S. have released their financial results for the second quarter of 2022. For CRISPR Therapeutics, Clovis Oncology and VistaGen, the news was decidedly mixed. And, GreenLight Biosciences has some extra cash to work with.  

CRISPR Discusses Regulatory Path for Exa-Cel

CRISPR Therapeutics: On Monday, CRISPR Therapeutics released its Q2 results for 2022, and the results were mixed. 

The company reported a sharp decline in revenue at $0.2 million, compared to $900.2 million for the second quarter of 2021. CRISPR stated this was primarily due to an upfront payment to Vertex in connection with the amended and restated joint development and commercialization agreement. Its cash and cash equivalents also decreased from $2,379.1 million in December 2021 to $2,073.7 million in June. 

CRISPR focused its report on developments in its clinical pipeline, primarily in hemoglobinopathies, immuno-oncology, regenerative medicine and in vivo studies. One of the company’s primary assets is exagamglogene autotemcel (exa-cel), (CTX001), a potential cure for transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia (TDT) and severe sickle cell disease (SCD). In July, the company announced it is preparing for submission to the FDA in the form of a BLA.

GreenLight Grabs New Funding for RNA Programs

GreenLight Biosciences: On Friday morning, GreenLight Biosciences announced it has received $109M in financing by way of a private placement. GreenLight describes itself as “a public benefit corporation striving to bring effective and safe solutions to make food clean and affordable for everyone and dedicated to developing health solutions for every person on our planet.” 

To do this, the company uses its own RNA platform in humans and animals to develop mRNA vaccines and therapeutics. It also uses RNA to protect honeybees and crops. The company reports it will use the money to advance research efforts, commercial programs and for working capital and general corporate purposes. It also stated that it expects this financing to fund its efforts through 2023. 

Clovis Needs Cash to Continue Past February 

Clovis Oncology: Clovis reported its Q2 results on Monday, which included a net loss of $71.3 million, compared to a net loss for the same period in 2021 of $66.4 million. The company also reported $94.6 million in cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2022. 

Clovis provided an update on its clinical pipeline, including Rubraca, its leading candidate that is currently being studied in a Phase III trial for ovarian cancer. Despite being on track to submit the trial results to the FDA, Clovis reported a total of $32.1M in Rubraca global net product revenues for the second quarter. This is down 13% compared to Q2 of 2021 and down 6% compared to Q1 of 2022. 

Overall, Clovis reported it will need additional funding if it wants to continue operating past February 2023.

VistaGen Pauses Second Program for Nasal Spray Candidate

VistaGen Therapeutics: VistaGen released its Q2 results for 2022 Thursday morning. 

The company’s most pressing update was related to its pipeline, specifically PH94B, which was being studied as a treatment for social anxiety disorder in the form of a nasal spray. As BioSpace previously reported, the drug did not achieve its primary efficacy endpoint in the Phase III PALISADE-1 trial. 

Given that data, VistaGen announced it has also paused its Phase III PALISADE-2 trial, which was studying the same candidate. The company stated it plans to meet with the FDA to decide what to do next.

Cash and cash equivalents for Q2 came in at $52 million, and VistaGen said it anticipates greatly reducing its spending in the coming months as a result of the failed PH94B trial.