Earnings preview: Will losses continue for Celsion in Q2

Celsion Corporation (NASDAQ: CLSN) is set to release its earnings results for the second quarter on Thursday before the market opens. The development stage oncology drug company’s results will be driven by lower costs and expenses while not expecting products revenue for the foreseeable future due to the developing of the new generation of products that will be marketed once the clinical trials are completed.

The company continued to face substantial operating losses since inception due to expenses related to research and development programs, clinical trials, as well as applications and submissions to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In total, the company has incurred about $276 million of cumulative net losses.

The operating losses are likely to continue for the foreseeable future due to product development efforts as well as marketing and sales activities. However, profitability remained conditional on the company’s development of ThermoDox, GEN-1, and other new product candidates that have been approved by the FDA.

With $23.8 million in cash, investment securities, and interest receivable at March 31, 2019, coupled with future sales of the company’s New Jersey NOL’s, Celsion believes it has sufficient capital resources to fund its operations into the fourth quarter of 2020. The company will be required to obtain additional funding to continue development of its current product candidates and to fund operations.

Analysts expect the company to report a loss of $0.32 per share on revenue of $130,000 for the second quarter. In comparison, during the previous year quarter, Celsion posted a loss of $0.46 per share on revenue of $125,000. The company has missed analysts’ expectations thrice in the past four quarters.

Also read: Will Arcadia Biosciences turn profitable in Q2

For the first quarter, Celsion reported a narrower loss due to gain from the valuation of earn-out milestone liability. The company incurred an increase in compensation expenses that included costs associated with new personnel additions and non-cash stock option compensation expense.

The company incurred clinical development costs for the phase 3 Optima study after the completion of enrollment for this 556-patient trial, Ovation studies, research and development activities for GEN-1, TheraPlas, and TheraSilence, as well as other clinical costs.

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