Sage Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAGE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel medicines to treat life-altering central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today reported business highlights and financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2017.
“By thinking differently about CNS, Sage has accelerated innovation across the development cycle, from discovery through development, and is now progressing toward potential commercial operations and patient care,” said Jeff Jonas, M.D., chief executive officer of Sage. “While our 2017 achievements demonstrate the strength of our R&D organization, successful execution against our 2018 goals will drive our planned transition to a commercial company with the opportunity to create a new standard of care for women with postpartum depression. In addition, our broad portfolio of fully-owned, internally developed molecules creates further opportunity to transform the lives of patients with life-altering CNS disorders and the potential to drive near and long-term value.”
Pipeline Updates
Sage is advancing a portfolio of novel CNS product candidates targeting the GABA and NMDA receptor systems. Dysfunction in these systems is known to be at the core of numerous psychiatric and neurological disorders.
GABA Programs
Sage is developing its proprietary intravenous (IV) formulation of brexanolone and a pipeline of novel, next-generation positive allosteric modulators of synaptic and extra-synaptic GABAA receptors.
NMDA Programs
Sage is developing novel, oral, first-in-class oxysterol-based positive allosteric modulators of the NMDA receptor, which may have potential in the treatment of a range of neurological disorders associated with a variety of cognitive, neurological and behavioral symptoms.
Expected Milestones
Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2017
“Sage has a track-record of executing with a very deliberate R&D strategy and a disciplined investment philosophy,” said Kimi Iguchi, chief financial officer of Sage. “Our robust balance sheet and strategic approach to spending facilitate the continued expansion of our commercial, manufacturing, quality, and medical affairs capabilities as part of our planned transition to a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company and enable the continued development of Sage’s broad CNS pipeline.”
2018 Financial Guidance
Conference Call Information
Sage
will host a conference call and webcast today at 8:00 AM ET to discuss
its fourth quarter and full year 2017 financial results and recent
corporate updates. The live webcast can be accessed on the investor page
of Sage's website at investor.sagerx.com. The conference call can be
accessed by dialing 1-866-450-8683 (toll-free domestic) or
1-281-542-4847 (international) and using the conference ID 6272049. A
replay of the webcast will be available on Sage’s website approximately
two hours after the completion of the event and will be archived for up
to 30 days.
About Sage Therapeutics
Sage
Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to
developing novel medicines to transform the lives of patients with
life-altering central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Sage has a
portfolio of novel product candidates targeting critical CNS receptor
systems, GABA and NMDA. Sage's lead program, a proprietary IV
formulation of brexanolone (SAGE-547), has completed Phase 3 clinical
development for postpartum depression. Sage is developing its next
generation modulators, including SAGE-217 and SAGE-718, in various CNS
disorders. For more information, please visit www.sagerx.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Various
statements in this release concern Sage's future expectations, plans and
prospects, including without limitation: our expectations regarding the
timing of a potential NDA filing and launch of our proprietary
formulation of brexanolone in PPD, and the expected build of commercial
infrastructure; our statements regarding plans and timelines for further
development of SAGE-217 and our other product candidates and related
activities and our view of the potential for successful development; our
statements as to the potential for expedited development for SAGE-217 in
MDD as a result of the Breakthrough Therapy designation; our views as to
the opportunity represented by Sage’s portfolio and business, and the
potential for value creation; and our expectations with respect to
future use of cash. These forward-looking statements are neither
promises nor guarantees of future performance, and are subject to a
variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our
control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from
those contemplated in these forward-looking statements, including the
risks that: the clinical and non-clinical data we have generated with
our proprietary formulation of brexanolone to date may be determined by
regulatory authorities, despite prior advice, to be insufficient to file
for or gain regulatory approval to launch and commercialize our product
in PPD and regulatory authorities may determine that additional trials
or data are necessary in order to file for or obtain approval;
regulatory authorities may find fault with the data generated at
particular clinical site or sites or with the activities of our trial
monitor or may disagree with our analyses of the results of our trials
or identify issues with our manufacturing or quality systems, and any
such findings or issues could require additional data or analyses or
changes to our systems that could delay or prevent us from gaining
approval of brexanolone IV; we may encounter unexpected safety or
tolerability issues with brexanolone IV, SAGE-217 or any of our other
product candidates in ongoing or future development; we may not be able
to successfully demonstrate the efficacy and safety of SAGE-217 or any
of our other product candidates at each stage of development; success in
early stage clinical trials may not be repeated or observed in ongoing
or future studies of SAGE-217 or any of our other product candidates;
ongoing and future clinical results may not support further development
or be sufficient to gain regulatory approval to market SAGE-217 or any
of our other product candidates; we may decide that a development
pathway for one of our product candidates in one or more indications is
no longer feasible or advisable or that the unmet need no longer exists;
we may not achieve expedited development or review of SAGE-217 as a
result of the Breakthrough Therapy designation; decisions or actions of
the FDA or other regulatory agencies may affect the initiation, timing,
design, size, progress and cost of clinical trials and our ability to
proceed with further development; we may experience slower than expected
enrollment in ongoing clinical trials; the internal and external costs
required for our activities, and to build our organization in connection
with such activities, and the resulting use of cash, may be higher than
expected, or we may conduct additional clinical trials or pre-clinical
studies, or engage in new activities, requiring additional expenditures
and using cash more quickly than anticipated; and we may encounter
technical and other unexpected hurdles in the development and
manufacture of our product candidates; as well as those risks more fully
discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our most recent
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K, and
discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important
factors in our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent our
views only as of today, and should not be relied upon as representing
our views as of any subsequent date. We explicitly disclaim any
obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Sage Therapeutics, Inc. and Subsidiaries |
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December 31, 2017 |
December 31, 2016 |
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Assets |
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Current Assets: | ||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 306,235 | $ | 168,517 | ||||||||
Marketable securities | 212,613 | 228,962 | ||||||||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 6,227 | 5,100 | ||||||||||
Total current assets | 525,075 | 402,579 | ||||||||||
Property and equipment and other long-term assets | 4,862 | 1,952 | ||||||||||
Total assets | $ | 529,937 | $ | 404,531 | ||||||||
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity |
||||||||||||
Current Liabilities: | ||||||||||||
Accounts payable | $ | 9,350 | $ | 12,817 | ||||||||
Accrued expenses | 42,601 | 22,352 | ||||||||||
Total current liabilities | 51,951 | 35,169 | ||||||||||
Other liabilities | 2,511 | 845 | ||||||||||
Total liabilities | 54,462 | 36,014 | ||||||||||
Total stockholders' equity | 475,475 | 368,517 | ||||||||||
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity | $ | 529,937 | $ | 404,531 | ||||||||
Sage Therapeutics, Inc. and Subsidiaries |
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Three Months Ended December 31, | Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
2017 | 2016 | 2017 | 2016 | |||||||||||||||||
Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Research and development | $ | 50,890 | $ | 42,004 | $ | 210,277 | $ | 120,756 | ||||||||||||
General and administrative | 19,558 | 14,375 | 62,878 | 39,407 | ||||||||||||||||
Total operating expenses | 70,448 | 56,379 | 273,155 | 160,163 | ||||||||||||||||
Loss from operations | (70,448 | ) | (56,379 | ) | (273,155 | ) | (160,163 | ) | ||||||||||||
Interest income, net | 1,042 | 494 | 3,099 | 1,211 | ||||||||||||||||
Other expense, net | (15 | ) | (16 | ) | (64 | ) | (35 | ) | ||||||||||||
Net loss | $ | (69,421 | ) | $ | (55,901 | ) | $ | (270,120 | ) | $ | (158,987 | ) | ||||||||
Net loss per share - basic and diluted | $ | (1.75 | ) | $ | (1.50 | ) | $ | (7.09 | ) | $ | (4.75 | ) | ||||||||
Weighted average shares outstanding - basic and diluted | 39,583,004 | 37,198,631 | 38,113,678 | 33,492,795 | ||||||||||||||||
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Sage Therapeutics
Investor Contact:
Paul Cox,
617-299-8377
[email protected]
or
Media
Contact:
Maureen L. Suda, 585-355-1134
[email protected]