Oncology drug development company Celsion Corporation (NASDAQ: CLSN) Thursday reported a narrower net loss for the second quarter of 2019, reflecting a decrease in operating expenses.
The company reported a net loss of $5.9 million or $0.29 per share for the June quarter, marking an improvement from a loss of $8.2 million or $0.46 per share reported a year earlier. The bottom-line benefitted from a 30% decline in operating expenses to $5.7 million.
At $3.6 million, research and development expenses were down 22% from the year-ago period. Also, there was a modest decline in the clinical development costs for the phase-III OPTIMA Study as enrollment in the key clinical trial ended last year.
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Celsion recorded revenues of $125,000 for the quarter, solely comprising licensing revenue, which is in line with the prior-year quarter.
“With a clear focus on shareholder value, Celsion continues to execute its business plan for our ongoing clinical development programs with ThermoDox and GEN-1. We are exceptionally well positioned on the fundamentals with a strong balance sheet that is expected to fund our clinical programs through transformative milestones over the next 18 months,” said CEO Michael Tardugno.
At the end of the quarter, Celsion had cash, investment securities and interest receivable of $21.8 million. The company intends to fund its future operations, up to the first quarter of 2021, using the available cash and benefits from the New Jersey NOL program.
Celsion shares closed the last trading session notably higher. The stock has lost about 33% in the past twelve months and is currently trading below $2.