Absci Reports Business Updates and Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial and Operating Results
Unveiled updates across proprietary pipeline and demonstrated new breakthroughs by AI platform at 2024 R&D Day
Entered into collaboration with AMD, including $20 million strategic investment in Absci
Achieved 2024 outlook for drug creation partnerships through collaborations with Owkin, Twist Bioscience, Invetx, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments sufficient to fund operations into the first half of 2027
VANCOUVER, Wash. and NEW YORK, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Absci Corporation (Nasdaq: ABSI), a data-first generative AI drug creation company, today reported financial and operating results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.
"Looking back on 2024, it is inspiring to see the significant progress our AI Integrated Drug Creation platform has made, and the tangible results of those advances," said Sean McClain, Founder and CEO. "In December, we unveiled for the first time our potentially category-defining ABS-201 program for androgenic alopecia and showcased new breakthroughs in de novo antibody design demonstrated by our leading AI platform. And now, we are on the verge of becoming a clinical-stage biotech company, with ABS-101 expected to initiate Phase 1 studies in the coming months, which would mark a significant milestone for Absci."
Recent Highlights
-- Showcased pipeline updates and platform achievements at 2024 R&D Day,
including target and primary indication for ABS-201 (anti-PRLR for
androgenic alopecia), new preclinical data for ABS-101 (anti-TL1A), and
breakthroughs in de novo design demonstrated by Absci's AI platform in
collaboration with the California Institute of Technology.
-- In January 2025, entered into strategic collaboration with AMD to deploy
AMD Instinct$(TM)$ accelerators and ROCm(TM) software to power critical AI
drug discovery workloads, including Absci's advanced de novo antibody
design models. As part of this strategic partnership, AMD also made a $20
million equity investment in Absci.
-- Established additional new Drug Creation partnerships, including with
Owkin to co-develop therapeutic candidates addressing novel targets in
immuno-oncology and other indications, and with Invetx to leverage
Absci's leading generative AI Drug Creation models to design a novel
antibody Half-Life Extension platform for animal health applications.
Internal Pipeline Updates, Anticipated Program Progress, and 2025 Outlook
-- ABS-101 (potential best-in-class anti-TL1A antibody): At Absci's R&D Day
in December 2024, the company shared new data illustrating that ABS-101
shows reduced internalization of TL1A complexes in in vitro THP-1
immunogenicity tests compared to a competitor molecule with a high
clinical anti-drug antibody $(ADA.AU)$ rate, which suggests a lower chance of
ABS-101 developing ADAs in clinical settings. In January, Absci also
unveiled new data from ABS-101's non-human primate PK/PD study,
demonstrating confirmatory prolonged target engagement, dose dependency
of target engagement (including a ceiling effect), and significant
improved target engagement as compared to competitor molecules at a
comparative dosing regimen. Absci plans to initiate Phase 1 clinical
studies for ABS-101 in the first half of 2025, with an interim data
readout in the second half of 2025.
-- ABS-201 (potential best-in-class anti-PRLR antibody): ABS-201 is a
potential best-in-class anti-PRLR antibody in development for androgenic
alopecia, an indication with significant clinical unmet need and a large
potential patient population of approximately 80 million individuals in
the U.S. alone. Absci has nominated a development candidate with a
preclinical profile suggesting high affinity and potency, favorable
safety and immunogenicity, extended half-life for convenient infrequent
dosing, and excellent developability and manufacturability. ABS-201 has
the potential to offer a safe option as compared to current standard of
care, and a preclinical model demonstrates improved hair regrowth
compared to minoxidil. Absci anticipates initiation of a Phase 1 clinical
trial for ABS-201 in early 2026.
-- ABS-301 (potential first-in-class antibody for undisclosed
immuno-oncology target): ABS-301 is a fully human antibody designed to
bind to a novel target discovered through Absci's Reverse Immunology
platform. Absci recently presented data for this program showing that
expression of ABS-301's target suggests broad potential in squamous cell
carcinomas and beyond. For this program, Absci has optimized an antibody
lead with high affinity and potency, and has successfully completed the
first in vivo target validation study. The findings from the study
demonstrate that signaling through the pathway drives a potent anti-tumor
response, providing strong rationale for advancing into in vivo efficacy
studies with ABS-301. These results support continued preclinical
development and further exploration of ABS-301's therapeutic potential.
-- ABS-501 (potential best-in-class novel AI-designed anti-HER2 antibody):
For this program, Absci has identified antibody leads using its zero-shot
de novo AI technology with the following characteristics: novel epitope
interactions, increased or equivalent affinity to trastuzumab in
preclinical settings, efficacious against a trastuzumab-resistant
xenograft tumor expressing wild-type HER2, and good developability.
-- Drug Creation Partnerships: Absci continues to make further progress on
its existing drug creation partnerships and anticipates signing one or
more partnerships, including with a Large Pharma company, in 2025.
Absci continues to focus its investments and operations on advancing its internal pipeline of programs, alongside current and future partnered programs, while achieving ongoing platform improvements and operational efficiencies. Based on the company's current plans, Absci believes its existing cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments will be sufficient to fund its operations into the first half of 2027.
Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Results
Revenue was $0.7 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 compared to $0.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023.
Research and development expenses were $18.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 compared to $12.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023. This increase was primarily driven by advancement of our internal programs, including direct costs associated with IND-enabling studies for ABS-101, and an increase in stock compensation expense.
Selling, general, and administrative expenses were $8.8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024 compared to $9.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023. This decrease was due to lower personnel and other costs, offset by an increase in stock compensation expense.
Net loss was $29.0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $23.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2023.
Full Year 2024 Financial Results
Revenue was $4.5 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 compared to $5.7 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023.
Research and development expenses were $63.9 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 compared to $48.1 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023. This increase was primarily driven by advancement of our internal programs, including direct costs associated with IND-enabling studies for ABS-101, and stock-based compensation.
Selling, general, and administrative expenses were $36.2 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 compared to $37.8 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023. This decrease was primarily due to a decrease in personnel and other costs, partially offset by an increase in stock-based compensation.
Net loss was $103.1 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $110.6 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023.
Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments as of December 31, 2024 were $112.4 million, compared to $127.1 million as of September 30, 2024. During the twelve months ending December 31, 2024, Absci's gross use of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, exclusive of partnered program payments, was approximately $72 million, below the company's most recent outlook of approximately $75 million.
Webcast Information
Absci will host a conference call to discuss its fourth quarter and full year 2024 business updates and financial and operating results on Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time / 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time. A webcast of the conference call can be accessed at investors.absci.com. The webcast will be archived and available for replay for at least 90 days after the event.
About Absci
Absci is a data-first generative AI drug creation company that combines AI with scalable wet lab technologies to create better biologics for patients, faster. Our Integrated Drug Creation(TM) platform unlocks the potential to accelerate time to clinic and increase the probability of success by simultaneously optimizing multiple drug characteristics important to both development and therapeutic benefit. With the data to learn, the AI to create, and the wet lab to validate, we can screen billions of cells per week, allowing us to go from AI-designed candidates to wet lab-validated candidates in as little as six weeks. Absci's headquarters is in Vancouver, WA, with our AI Research Lab in New York City and an Innovation Center in Zug, Switzerland. Visit www.absci.com and follow us on LinkedIn (@absci), X (Twitter) (@Abscibio), and YouTube.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release that are not historical facts are considered forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements containing the words "will," "pursues," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "forecast," "potential," "goal," "estimates," "extends," "expects," and "intends," or similar expressions. We intend these forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our expectations related to business operations, portfolio strategy, financial performance, and results of operations, our expectations and guidance related to the success of our partnerships, the gross use of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, including revised guidance, our projected cash usage, needs, and runway, our expectations regarding the signing and number of additional partners and number of programs included in such partnerships, our technology development efforts and the application of those efforts, including for generalizing our platform, accelerating drug development timelines, improving the economics of drug discovery by lowering costs, and increasing the probability of success for drug development, our ability to execute with our partners to create differentiated antibody therapeutic candidates in an efficient manner, create and execute a successful development and commercialization strategy related to such candidates with current or future partners, and design and develop differentiated therapeutics to treat disease with unmet need, our ability to market our platform technologies to potential partners, our plans related to our R&D Day scheduled for December 12, and our internal asset programs, including our clinical development strategy, the progress and timing for various stages of development including advancement to lead stage, completion of pre-clinical studies, candidate selection, IND enabling studies, initiating clinical trials and the generation and disclosure of data related to these programs, the translation of preclinical results and data into product candidates, and the significance of preclinical results, including in comparison to competitor molecules and in leading to differentiated clinical efficacy or product profiles, to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act, and we make this statement for purposes of complying with those safe harbor provisions. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views about our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies, and prospects, which are based on the information currently available to us and on assumptions we have made. We can give no assurance that the plans, intentions, expectations, or strategies will be attained or achieved, and, furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond our control, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties relating to obtaining and maintaining necessary approvals from the FDA and other regulatory authorities, replicating in clinical trials promising or positive results observed in preclinical studies, our dependence on third parties to support our internal asset programs, including for the manufacture and supply of preclinical and clinical supplies of our product candidates or components thereof, our ability to effectively collaborate on research, drug discovery and development activities with our partners or potential partners, our existing and potential partners' ability and willingness to pursue the development and commercialization of programs or product candidates under the terms of our partnership agreements, and overall market conditions and regulatory developments that may affect our and our partners' activities under these agreements, along with those risks set forth in our most recent periodic report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in our subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Investor Contact:
Alex Khan
VP, Finance & Investor Relations
investors@absci.com
Media Contact:
press@absci.com
absci@methodcommunications.com
Absci Corporation
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
For the Three Months Ended For the Years Ended
December 31, December 31,
-------------------------- --------------------------
(In thousands,
except for share
and per share
data) 2024 2023 2024 2023
------------ ----------- ------------ -----------
Revenues
Partner program
revenue $ 665 $ 338 $ 4,534 $ 5,718
Total revenues 665 338 4,534 5,718
Operating
expenses
Research and
development 18,377 12,269 63,859 48,067
Selling, general
and
administrative 8,828 9,324 36,174 37,832
Depreciation and
amortization 3,234 3,484 13,389 13,999
Goodwill
impairment -- -- -- 21,335
----------- ---------- ----------- ----------
Total operating
expenses 30,439 25,077 113,422 121,233
----------- ---------- ----------- ----------
Operating loss (29,774) (24,739) (108,888) (115,515)
Other income
(expense)
Interest expense (109) (204) (565) (1,010)
Other income,
net 921 1,446 6,417 6,059
----------- ---------- ----------- ----------
Total other
income, net 812 1,242 5,852 5,049
----------- ---------- ----------- ----------
Loss before income
taxes (28,962) (23,497) (103,036) (110,466)
Income tax expense (21) (48) (70) (100)
----------- ---------- ----------- ----------
Net loss $ (28,983) $ (23,545) $ (103,106) $ (110,566)
Net loss per
share: Basic and
diluted $ (0.25) $ (0.25) $ (0.94) $ (1.20)
=========== ========== =========== ==========
Weighted-average
common shares
outstanding:
Basic and
diluted 114,929,962 92,573,406 110,239,870 92,028,016
=========== ========== =========== ==========
Absci Corporation
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
December 31, December 31,
(In thousands, except for share and
per share data) 2024 2023
-------------- --------------
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 41,213 $ 72,362
Restricted cash 15,947 16,193
Short-term investments 71,212 25,297
Accounts receivable, net -- 2,189
Prepaid expenses and other current
assets 5,459 4,537
---------- ----------
Total current assets 133,831 120,578
Operating lease right-of-use assets 3,968 4,490
Property and equipment, net 29,167 41,328
Intangibles, net 44,883 48,253
Restricted cash, long-term 1,054 1,112
Other long-term assets 705 1,537
---------- ----------
TOTAL ASSETS $ 213,608 $ 217,298
========== ==========
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS'
EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable $ 3,529 $ 1,503
Accrued expenses 6,842 6,553
Contingent consideration 12,750 12,750
Long-term debt 2,733 3,258
Operating lease obligations 1,608 1,679
Financing lease obligations 78 641
Deferred revenue 1,116 3,174
---------- ----------
Total current liabilities 28,656 29,558
Long-term debt, net of current
portion 1,257 4,660
Operating lease obligations, net of
current portion 4,429 5,643
Deferred revenue, long-term -- 966
Other long-term liabilities 133 295
---------- ----------
TOTAL LIABILITIES 34,475 41,122
---------- ----------
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value -- --
Common stock, $0.0001 par value 12 9
Additional paid-in capital 688,726 582,699
Accumulated deficit (509,601) (406,495)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (4) (37)
---------- ----------
TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY 179,133 176,176
---------- ----------
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS'
EQUITY $ 213,608 $ 217,298
========== ==========
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 18, 2025 16:05 ET (20:05 GMT)