RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif., May 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cesca Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:KOOL), a market leader in automated cell processing and point-of-care, autologous cell-based therapies, today announced financial and operating results for the fiscal third quarter and nine months ended March 31, 2017 and provided a corporate update.
Fiscal Third Quarter Highlights
- Established a wholly-owned subsidiary, ThermoGenesis Corp., to separately operate and manage Cesca’s core device business. Management anticipates that ThermoGenesis will be cash flow positive on a stand-alone basis within approximately 12 months.
- Appointed Vivian Liu as chief operating officer. Ms. Liu has more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical finance, operations and M&A experience.
- Closed an unsecured $5.0 million revolving line of credit with Boyalife Investment Fund II, providing non-dilutive funds to support ongoing growth initiatives.
- Added significant expertise in drug discovery, development and commercialization to the Board of Directors with the appointments of Dr. Joseph Thomis and Dr. Russell Medford.
- Obtained approval of an IDE supplement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the company’s pivotal trial evaluating its point-of-care cellular processing technology for the treatment of Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI).
- Published results from a CLI feasibility study in the peer-reviewed journal, Stem Cells International. In the study, 17 CLI patients demonstrated significant improvement in wound healing, rest pain and six-minute walking distance, along with significant reduction in intermittent claudication pain.
“I am pleased to note that during the three months ended March 31, 2017, my first full quarter since assuming the position of interim chief executive officer, we made notable progress in strengthening and repositioning the company to become a leader in point-of-care, automated cellular processing,” said Dr. Xiaochun “Chris” Xu, chairman and interim chief executive officer. “In particular, we established a separate subsidiary for our core device business, ThermoGenesis Corp., which will help us manage and expand this division while continuing to develop cutting-edge technologies for autologous cell-based applications. At the same time, the appointment of Vivian Liu, a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive who joined Cesca as chief operating officer in February, combined with several key additions to our Board of Directors and a number of important senior management promotions announced just after quarter end, served to round out our leadership team and ensure that we have the right people in place to successfully execute our long-term strategy. These developments, together with the added backing and resources of the Boyalife Group, position Cesca for success in the burgeoning regenerative medicine field, and I look forward to providing future updates on our continued progress.”
Financial Results for the Three Months and Nine Months Ended March 31, 2017
Net revenue. Net revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2017 were $3.3 million compared to $2.8 million for the comparable period in 2016. The increase in revenue was due primarily to an increase in shipments of AXP devices and disposables. For the nine months ended March 31, 2017, net revenues were $11.0 million compared to $8.9 million for the nine months ended March 31, 2016. The increase is primarily a result of increased shipments of AXP disposables to a single end-user customer and distributors in China and Europe.
Gross profit. Gross profit for the three months ended March 31, 2017 was $1.4 million, or 42% of net revenue, compared to $408,000, or 14% of net revenue, for the comparable period in 2016. For the nine months ended March 31, 2017, gross profit was $4.3 million, or 39% of net revenue, compared to $1.8 million, or 20% of net revenue, for the corresponding fiscal 2016 period. The increase in gross profit percentage was primarily due to reduced inventory reserves and a reduction in overhead costs.