Cibus, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBUS) (the "Company"), a
leading agricultural biotechnology company that uses proprietary
gene editing technologies to develop plant traits (or specific
genetic characteristics) in seeds, today announced its financial
results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, and provided a
business update. Management will host a conference call and webcast
today at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Management Commentary
"We are off to a great start in 2024 with the
commercialization of our platform, technology and products," stated
Rory Riggs, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Cibus. "In the first
quarter, we signed three agreements for Rice across North and Latin
America. Latin America is an important market for Rice production
and we now have agreements for commercial development with two of
the largest Rice seed companies in the region, including Interoc
S.A. In North America, we signed a broad agreement with Loveland
Products Inc., a subsidiary of Nutrien Ltd., pursuant to which we
will work toward commercializing herbicide tolerance in Rice. We
are also excited about our Wheat platform development, which we
believe is the world's first successful regeneration of a wheat
plant from single cells – marking a major breakthrough for Cibus
and for the seed industry."
Mr. Riggs continued, "On the regulatory front,
in February the EU Parliament voted to support proposed regulation
of gene edited products similarly to conventional breeding, which
was a watershed moment for the industry given the EU's stringent
regulations around GMO traits. The important shift in sentiment
builds upon global momentum in many major countries including the
United States, Brazil, Argentina and the United Kingdom,
establishing a supportive regulatory position in many of the major
global agricultural communities."
Mr. Riggs concluded, "The combination of our
product development and advancement toward scalable
commercialization advances our vision to become the leader in
agricultural gene editing, working alongside seed companies to help
farmers address their sustainability, productivity and
environmental challenges at a fraction of the time and cost of
conventional breeding or GMO methods. These developments combined
with the favorable advancements in the global regulatory landscape
have Cibus well positioned to make a measurable impact on the
industry."
Commercial Progress
Cibus' Three Developed Traits Progress – Launching
with Customers1
- Pod Shatter Reduction (PSR) in Canola
and Winter Oilseed Rape (WOSR)
- Continued progress in working with
customers toward commercializing PSR in Canola
- PSR field trials for WOSR are ongoing
in the UK with results expected in late 2024, starting our
commercialization efforts in Europe
- Herbicide Tolerance (HT1 and HT3) in
Rice
- Signed collaboration agreements in
Rice for HT1 and HT3 traits, including Loveland Products, Inc., a
subsidiary of Nutrien Ltd., and Interoc S.A., market leaders in the
US and Latin America, respectively.
- Cibus now has agreements with four
major Rice seed companies to have Cibus' HT traits placed in their
elite germplasm for commercialization
- Cibus believes that these four Rice
customers, taken together, represent approximately 40% of the
Company's estimated accessible Rice acres across North and Latin
America (i.e., acres that would be potentially accessible to Cibus'
HT1 and HT3 traits).
- Leading North American customer
commenced 2024 growing season with its first Rice HT trait trials
planted in the US with their germplasm
Progress of Cibus' Two Advanced Productivity Traits
- Sclerotinia Resistance and Herbicide Tolerance (HT2)
- Sclerotinia Resistance
- Successful greenhouse results received
in Canola for the first two modes of action
- Expect to have greenhouse results for
the third mode of action for Sclerotinia in 2024
- Developing plan to integrate
Sclerotinia resistance in Soybean following the development of the
Soybean platform
- Herbicide Tolerance (HT2)
- Following successful completion of
edits of HT2 in Canola, currently anticipate greenhouse results in
2024
Progress on Platform Development
- Wheat Platform
- Major breakthrough: successfully
completed the world's first regeneration of Wheat plants from
single cells demonstrates continued success in developing scalable
high-throughput breeding platforms that can operate as extensions
of seed company breeding programs
- Entering into initial discussions with
potential seed partners for traits
- Wheat platform opens the potential to
develop various productivity and sustainability traits to address
the most significant challenges faced by farmers globally
- Soybean Platform
- Expect Soybean platform to be
operational in 2024, allowing for penetration of this large
addressable market
- Development of the Soybean platform is
a key point of inflection for Cibus' productivity trait and
sustainable ingredients business
Corporate and Industry Progress
- Significant milestone in advancing
global gene editing regulations
- European Union: On February 7, 2024,
the EU Parliament voted to support a new proposal for the
regulation of new genomic techniques (NGTs), which now moves to
negotiations with the Council of the EU and the European Commission
- EU proposal is expected to place
Cibus' RTDS in a NGT category where it would be
regulated similarly to conventional breeding
- When adopted, this milestone would
mark the opening of the market to new seed technologies and starts
the gene editing era in the EU
- Other global markets: The movement of
other countries approving gene editing as similar to conventional
breeding techniques continues to expand as momentum builds
globally
- Appoints Jason Stokes as Chief Legal
Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
- Accomplished corporate and business
legal executive with extensive governance, securities, finance, and
M&A experience across private and public companies
- Rounding out the management team with
this role is vitally important as the Company advances its
commercial strategy
1 See "About the Cibus Trait Machine™ process
and Rapid Trait Development System™" for information regarding our
initial customer relationships.
Expected 2024 Milestones
Cibus has several important development and
commercial milestone targets for 2024:
- Developed Productivity Traits:
- Expect 8 of 10 PSR customers in Canola
to have their elite germplasm edited with Cibus' trait either
transferred to the customer or ready to be transferred to the
customer
- Expect to collect HT3 field testing
data for Rice in Latin America
- The transfer of an edited germplasm
containing a Cibus trait to customers enables the start of a
commercialization process
- Expand customer base with existing
developed productivity traits
- Advanced Productivity Traits:
- Expect greenhouse results for a third
mode of action for Sclerotinia resistance
- Expect greenhouse results for HT2
- Platform Development:
- Expect Soybean single-cell
regeneration platform to be operational and have initial editing
completed
- Expect to initiate the first edits
toward developing traits for Wheat
- Expect to enter into initial
development/commercial agreements related to Wheat
- Sustainable Ingredient Development:
- Continue progress to develop
sustainable low carbon ingredients or materials for the consumer
packaged goods industry that do not negatively impact the
environment during production, use, or disposal
First Quarter 2024 Financial
Results
As a reminder, the business combination of
Cibus, Inc. (formerly known as Calyxt, Inc. prior to the business
combination) (Legacy Calyxt) and Cibus Global, LLC was completed on
May 31, 2023, thus all of the 2023 information provided in the
Financial Results, Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations,
and Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows is that of
Legacy Calyxt only. Year-over-year comparisons are not comparable
as 2024 includes the combined company whereas 2023 only includes
Legacy Calyxt.
- Cash position: Cash and cash
equivalents as of March 31, 2024, was $24.5 million. Taking
into account the impact of implemented cost saving initiatives and
without giving effect to potential financing transactions that
Cibus is pursuing, Cibus expects that existing cash and cash
equivalents will fund planned operating expenses and capital
expenditure requirements into the third quarter of 2024.
- Research and development (R&D)
Expense: R&D expense was $12.0 million for the quarter
ended March 31, 2024, compared to $2.2 million in the year-ago
period. The increase of $9.8 million is primarily related to
increased lab supply and facility expenses, an increase in employee
headcount, and an increase in stock-based compensation expense for
restricted stock award grants.
- Selling, general, and
administrative (SG&A) expense: SG&A expense was $7.0
million for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to $2.3
million in the year-ago period. The increase of $4.7 million is
primarily related to an increase in headcount, increased consulting
and legal fees, and an increase in stock-based compensation expense
for restricted stock award grants.
- Royalty liability interest expense
- related parties: Royalty liability interest expense - related
parties was $8.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.
This is a non-cash expense.
- Non-operating income (expense):
Non-operating income (expense) was expense of $0.4 million for the
quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to expense of $0.9
million in the year-ago period. The decrease of $0.5 million in
non-operating expense is driven by the fair value adjustment of the
liability classified common warrants.
- Net loss: Net loss was $27.0
million for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to $5.4
million in the year-ago period.
- Net loss per
share of Class A common stock: Net loss per share of Class A common
stock was $1.12 for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared
to $5.46 in the year-ago period.
Conference Call and Webcast
Information
Cibus will host a live webcast, Thursday, May 9,
2024, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss its first quarter 2024
financial results and provide a business update. The conference
call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing (877) 704-4453
or for international callers by dialing (201) 389-0920. A replay of
the call will be available through May 23, 2024, by dialing (844)
512-2921 or for international callers by dialing (412) 317-6671;
the passcode is 13745788.
A live audio webcast of the call will be
available under "Events & Presentations" in the Investor
section of the Company's website, investor.cibus.com. An archived
webcast will be available on the Company's website for 90 days
after the event.
About Cibus
Cibus is a leader in gene edited productivity
traits that address critical productivity and sustainability
challenges for farmers such as diseases and pests which the United
Nations estimates cost the global economy approximately $300
billion annually. Cibus is not a seed company. It is a technology
company that uses gene editing to develop and license traits to
seed companies in exchange for royalties on seed sales. Cibus'
focus is productivity traits for farmers for the major global row
crops with large acreage such as canola, corn, rice, soybean, and
wheat. Cibus is a technology leader in high throughput gene editing
technology that enables Cibus to develop and commercialize plant
traits at a fraction of the time and cost of conventional breeding.
Cibus has developed a pipeline of five productivity traits
including important traits for Pod Shatter Reduction, Sclerotinia
(disease) resistance, and weed management. Its initial traits for
Pod Shatter Reduction and weed management are in commercial
development with leading seed companies such as Nuseed Americas
Inc. in Canola as well as Nutrien Ltd. and Interoc S.A. in Rice in
the United States and Latin America. Its other pipeline traits
including Sclerotinia resistance are in advanced greenhouse and
field trial stages.
About the Cibus Trait
Machine™ process and Rapid
Trait Development System™
A key element of Cibus' technology breakthrough
is its high-throughput breeding process (referred to as the "Trait
Machine™" process). The Trait Machine process is a crop specific
application of Cibus' patented Rapid Trait Development System™
(RTDS®). The proprietary
technologies in RTDS integrate crop specific cell
biology platforms with a series of gene editing technologies to
enable a system of end-to-end crop specific precision breeding. It
is the core technology platform for Cibus' Trait Machine process:
the first standardized end-to-end semi-automated crop specific gene
editing system that directly edits a seed company's elite
germplasm. Each Trait Machine process requires a crop specific cell
biology platform that enables Cibus to edit a single cell from a
customer's elite germplasm and grow that edited cell into a plant
with the Cibus edits. Cibus has a Trait Machine process developed
for canola and rice and has already begun transferring their elite
germplasm with Cibus edits back to customers.
The traits from Cibus'
RTDS-based high-throughput breeding system are
indistinguishable from traits developed using conventional breeding
or from nature. RTDS does not integrate any
foreign DNA or transgenes. Under the European Commission's current
proposals, it is expected that products from Cibus'
RTDS gene editing platform such as its Pod Shatter
Reduction trait and Sclerotinia resistance traits for Canola and
Winter Oilseed Rape would be considered 'Conventional-like'.
Cibus believes that RTDS and
the Trait Machine process represent the technological breakthrough
in plant breeding that is the ultimate promise of plant gene
editing: "high- throughput gene editing systems operating as an
extension of seed company breeding programs." In 2024, the Trait
Machine process was cited by Fast Company Magazine as one of the
most innovative products in 2024.
Because the Trait Machine process is intended to
be integrated into seed companies' breeding operations, the
customer relationship between Cibus and seed companies with which
it engages is a collaborative relationship in which seed companies
transfer elite germplasm to have a specific validated trait placed
in the seed company's elite germplasm and expectation of delivery
back to the seed company of their elite germplasm with the Cibus
edit toward commercial development. Accordingly, Cibus refers to
seed company "customers" in its disclosure once such a customer
relationship has been initiated.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws,
including The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All
statements, other than statements of present or historical fact
included herein, including statements regarding Cibus' operational
and financial performance, Cibus' strategy, future operations,
prospects, and plans, including the anticipated regulatory
environment are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements may be identified by words such as "anticipate,"
"believe," "intend," "expect," "plan," "scheduled," "could,"
"would" and "will," or the negative of these and similar
expressions.
These forward-looking statements are based on
the current expectations and assumptions of Cibus' management about
future events, which are based on currently available information.
These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and
uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and beyond
the control of Cibus. Cibus' actual results, level of activity,
performance, or achievements could be materially different than
those expressed, implied, or anticipated by forward-looking
statements due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited
to: Cibus' need for additional near-term funding to finance its
activities and challenges in obtaining additional capital on
acceptable terms, or at all; changes in expected or existing
competition; challenges to Cibus' intellectual property protection
and unexpected costs associated with defending intellectual
property rights; increased or unanticipated time and resources
required for Cibus' platform or trait product development efforts;
Cibus' reliance on third parties in connection with its development
activities; challenges associated with Cibus' ability to
effectively license its productivity traits and sustainable
ingredient products; the risk that farmers do not recognize the
value in germplasm containing Cibus' traits or that farmers and
processors fail to work effectively with crops containing Cibus'
traits; challenges that arise in respect of Cibus' production of
high-quality plants and seeds cost effectively on a large scale;
Cibus' dependence on distributions from Cibus Global, LLC to pay
taxes and cover its corporate and overhead expenses; regulatory
developments that disfavor or impose significant burdens on
gene-editing processes or products; Cibus' ability to achieve
commercial success; commodity prices and other market risks facing
the agricultural sector; technological developments that could
render Cibus' technologies obsolete; changes in macroeconomic and
market conditions, including inflation, supply chain constraints,
and rising interest rates; dislocations in the capital markets and
challenges in accessing liquidity and the impact of such liquidity
challenges on Cibus' ability to execute on its business plan; risks
associated with the possible failure to realize certain anticipated
benefits of the Merger Transactions; the effect of the completion
of the Merger Transactions on the Company's business relationships,
operating results, and business generally; the outcome of any
litigation related to the Merger Transactions; the Company's
assessment of the period of time through which its financial
resources will be adequate to support operations; and other
important factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of Cibus'
Annual Report on Form 10-K which was filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 21, 2024. Should one or
more of these risks or uncertainties occur, or should underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and plans could differ
materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements.
Cibus' assessment of the period of time through which its financial
resources will be adequate to support its operations is a
forward-looking statement and involves such risks and
uncertainties. Accordingly, the Company could use its available
capital resources sooner than it currently expects.
In addition, the forward-looking statements
included in this press release represent Cibus' views as of the
date hereof. Cibus specifically disclaims any obligation to update
such forward-looking statements in the future, except as required
under applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not
be relied upon as representing Cibus' views as of any date
subsequent to the date hereof.
CIBUS CONTACTS:
INVESTOR RELATIONSKaren
Troeberktroeber@cibus.com858-450-2636
Jeff Sonnek – ICR
jeff.sonnek@icrinc.comMEDIA RELATIONSColin
Sanfordcolin@bioscribe.com203-918-4347
|
CIBUS, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE
SHEETS (Unaudited and in Thousands, Except Par
Value and Share Amounts) |
|
|
March 31, 2024 |
|
December 31, 2023 |
Assets |
|
|
|
Current
assets: |
|
|
|
Cash and cash equivalents |
$ |
24,507 |
|
|
$ |
32,699 |
|
Accounts receivable |
|
650 |
|
|
|
530 |
|
Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
|
1,560 |
|
|
|
1,991 |
|
Total current assets |
|
26,717 |
|
|
|
35,220 |
|
Property, plant, and equipment, net |
|
14,657 |
|
|
|
15,775 |
|
Operating lease right-of-use
assets |
|
20,458 |
|
|
|
21,685 |
|
Intangible assets, net |
|
34,953 |
|
|
|
35,411 |
|
Goodwill |
|
434,898 |
|
|
|
434,898 |
|
Other non-current assets |
|
1,351 |
|
|
|
1,422 |
|
Total
assets |
$ |
533,034 |
|
|
$ |
544,411 |
|
Liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interest, and stockholders’
equity |
|
|
|
Current
liabilities: |
|
|
|
Accounts payable |
$ |
6,672 |
|
|
$ |
6,127 |
|
Accrued expenses |
|
1,804 |
|
|
|
1,747 |
|
Accrued compensation |
|
3,304 |
|
|
|
3,858 |
|
Deferred revenue |
|
1,460 |
|
|
|
1,210 |
|
Current portion of notes payable |
|
527 |
|
|
|
833 |
|
Current portion of financing lease obligations |
|
151 |
|
|
|
187 |
|
Current portion of operating lease obligations |
|
5,985 |
|
|
|
5,927 |
|
Class A common stock warrants |
|
1,808 |
|
|
|
1,418 |
|
Other current liabilities |
|
11 |
|
|
|
16 |
|
Total current liabilities |
|
21,722 |
|
|
|
21,323 |
|
Notes payable, net of current portion |
|
441 |
|
|
|
536 |
|
Financing lease obligations, net of current portion |
|
116 |
|
|
|
113 |
|
Operating lease obligations, net of current portion |
|
15,652 |
|
|
|
17,025 |
|
Royalty liability - related parties |
|
173,581 |
|
|
|
165,252 |
|
Other non-current
liabilities |
|
1,695 |
|
|
|
1,868 |
|
Total
liabilities |
|
213,207 |
|
|
|
206,117 |
|
Redeemable noncontrolling interest |
|
41,610 |
|
|
|
44,824 |
|
Stockholders’ equity: |
|
|
|
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value; 210,000,000 shares
authorized; 21,614,892 shares issued and 21,014,970 shares
outstanding as of March 31, 2024; 21,240,379 shares issued and
20,567,656 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2023 |
|
8 |
|
|
|
8 |
|
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 90,000,000 shares
authorized; 3,142,636 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31,
2024, and December 31, 2023 |
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
Additional paid-in
capital |
|
783,351 |
|
|
|
775,017 |
|
Class A common stock in treasury, at cost; 39,099 shares as of
March 31, 2024, and 32,663 shares as of December 31, 2023 |
|
(1,912 |
) |
|
|
(1,785 |
) |
Accumulated deficit |
|
(503,213 |
) |
|
|
(479,778 |
) |
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) |
|
(17 |
) |
|
|
8 |
|
Total stockholders’
equity |
|
278,217 |
|
|
|
293,470 |
|
Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interest, and
stockholders’ equity |
$ |
533,034 |
|
|
$ |
544,411 |
|
|
CIBUS, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited and in
Thousands, Except Share and Per Share Amounts) |
|
|
Three Months Ended March 31, |
|
|
2024 |
|
|
|
2023 |
|
Revenue: |
|
|
|
Revenue |
$ |
545 |
|
|
$ |
42 |
|
Total revenue |
|
545 |
|
|
|
42 |
|
Operating expenses: |
|
|
|
Research and development |
|
12,013 |
|
|
|
2,209 |
|
Selling, general, and administrative |
|
6,985 |
|
|
|
2,296 |
|
Total operating expenses |
|
18,998 |
|
|
|
4,505 |
|
Loss from
operations |
|
(18,453 |
) |
|
|
(4,463 |
) |
Royalty liability interest expense - related parties |
|
(8,329 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
Other interest income
(expense), net |
|
193 |
|
|
|
(21 |
) |
Non-operating income (expense) |
|
(369 |
) |
|
|
(910 |
) |
Loss before income taxes |
|
(26,958 |
) |
|
|
(5,394 |
) |
Income tax expense |
|
(14 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
Net loss |
$ |
(26,972 |
) |
|
$ |
(5,394 |
) |
Net loss attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interest |
|
(3,537 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
Net loss attributable to Cibus, Inc. |
$ |
(23,435 |
) |
|
$ |
(5,394 |
) |
Basic and diluted net
loss per share of Class A common stock |
$ |
(1.12 |
) |
|
$ |
(5.46 |
) |
Weighted average
shares of Class A common stock outstanding – basic and
diluted |
|
20,862,938 |
|
|
|
988,145 |
|
|
CIBUS, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited and in
Thousands) |
|
|
|
Three Months Ended March 31, |
|
|
|
2024 |
|
|
|
2023 |
|
Operating activities |
|
|
|
|
Net loss |
|
$ |
(26,972 |
) |
|
$ |
(5,394 |
) |
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used by operating
activities: |
|
|
|
|
Royalty liability interest expense - related parties |
|
|
8,329 |
|
|
|
— |
|
Depreciation and amortization |
|
|
1,794 |
|
|
|
486 |
|
Stock-based compensation |
|
|
2,528 |
|
|
|
828 |
|
Change in fair value of liability classified Class A common stock
warrants |
|
|
390 |
|
|
|
819 |
|
Other |
|
|
(22 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of
acquisitions: |
|
|
|
|
Accounts receivable |
|
|
(120 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
Due to/from related parties |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
(112 |
) |
Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
|
|
431 |
|
|
|
56 |
|
Accounts payable |
|
|
646 |
|
|
|
(13 |
) |
Accrued expenses |
|
|
47 |
|
|
|
879 |
|
Accrued compensation |
|
|
(554 |
) |
|
|
73 |
|
Deferred revenues |
|
|
248 |
|
|
|
(42 |
) |
Right-of-use assets and lease liabilities, net |
|
|
(88 |
) |
|
|
50 |
|
Other assets and liabilities, net |
|
|
(137 |
) |
|
|
(5 |
) |
Net cash used by operating activities |
|
|
(13,480 |
) |
|
|
(2,375 |
) |
Investing activities |
|
|
|
|
Purchases of property, plant, and equipment |
|
|
(228 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
Net cash used by investing activities |
|
|
(228 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
Financing activities |
|
|
|
|
Proceeds from issuances of securities |
|
|
6,534 |
|
|
|
— |
|
Costs incurred related to issuances of securities |
|
|
(454 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
Proceeds from draws on revolving line of credit from Cibus Global,
LLC |
|
|
— |
|
|
|
1,000 |
|
Payment of taxes related to vested restricted stock units |
|
|
(127 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
Repayments of financing lease obligations |
|
|
(33 |
) |
|
|
(97 |
) |
Repayments of notes payable |
|
|
(401 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
Net cash provided by financing activities |
|
|
5,519 |
|
|
|
903 |
|
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents |
|
|
(3 |
) |
|
|
— |
|
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents |
|
|
(8,192 |
) |
|
|
(1,472 |
) |
Cash and cash equivalents –
beginning of period |
|
|
32,699 |
|
|
|
3,526 |
|
Cash and cash
equivalents – end of period |
|
$ |
24,507 |
|
|
$ |
2,054 |
|
Cibus (NASDAQ:CBUS)
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From Jul 2024 to Aug 2024
Cibus (NASDAQ:CBUS)
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From Aug 2023 to Aug 2024