Cellectis S.A. announces its financial results for the fiscal year ending Dec 31 2006.
2006 - laying the foundations for tomorrow's growth, with:
migration to an own-brand sales model
the first full year of MRS production
preparation for the company's subsequent IPO on the Alternext market of Euronext, Paris, completed in February 2007
Romainville, France - April the 17st, 2007 - Cellectis S.A. (Alternext: ALCLS), the rational genome engineering company developing a new range of custom DNA rewriting products for the research, healthcare and industrial sectors, today published its financial results for 2006.
Highlights of the 2006 fiscal year:
An evolving business model for Cellectis, migrating from a model based on exclusively sublicensing the Pasteur Institute's technologies to one focused on direct commercialization of products generated by the company's proprietary technologies. This move has notably resulted in signature of a significant agreement with Bayer Biosciences in the agricultural area.
The first full year of custom meganuclease production. Cellectis has managed to produce 8 meganuclease recombination systems (MRSs) over a 12-month period, thus confirming its ability to reliably meet deadlines and deliver a custom product on the basis of a designated DNA target sequence (9 months, on average).
Production of the first MRS for use in the healthcare sector.
Filing of 3 new patent applications and grant of the company's first wholly-owned patent.
Publication of 3 research articles in prestigious international journals.
Preparation of the company's subsequent (2007) IPO, aimed at raising additional funds for consolidating Cellectis' growth and boosting the company's visibility.
Prospects for 2007
Accelerated MRS production in 2007 (10 systems).
Signature of 5 to 7 new contracts in the agricultural and biomanufacturing sectors.
Delivery of 1 to 3 MRS in the healthcare sector.
Delivery of the first custom MRS.
The first results for correction of a gene mutation in patient cells.
Achievement of a key milestone in a biomanufacturing-based collaboration (the pre-industrial validation of a Cellectis product).
Operating income fell by 60% from 6.15 million euros for the 2005 fiscal year to 2.48 million euros for the 2006 fiscal year. 2005 had been marked by a substantial milestone payment (more than 4 million euros). Cellectis did not receive any payments of this type or size in 2006.
Nevertheless, in 2006, Cellectis received its first payments related to commercialization of custom meganucleases - a sum amounting to several hundred thousand euros.
Operating grants received rose by over 400%, from €243K in 2005 to 1.29 million euros in 2006.
In parallel with the observed drop in operating income, royalties due to the Pasteur Institute shrunk by more than 80% from 2.5 million euros in 2005 to 0.46 million euros in 2006.
Operating costs, other than royalties due to the Pasteur Institute (the "Other operating costs" item), increased by 17% between fiscal year 2005 and fiscal year 2006, going from 4.9 to 5.7 million euros. This increase was essentially due to external charges, including honoraria, announcements and publications - the two items that rose most significantly over the 2006 fiscal year (+€367K and +€155K, respectively), essentially due to preparation for the IPO.
Other operating charges (and, in particular, staff costs) changed little between 2005 and 2006 (wages: + 4% between 2005 and 2006; social charges: - 3.2% between 2005 and 2006). Only taxes and related payments increased by 90% between 2005 and 2006, going from €103K to €197K - primarily due to an increase in the local tax base and payment of property tax.
The operating loss for the 2006 fiscal year amounted to 3.7 million euros, compared with a loss of 1.2 million euros in 2005.
Financial income increased by almost 200% between the 2005 fiscal year and the 2006 fiscal year, going from €60K to €175K - essentially due to an improvement in the company's cash reserves, resulting from the income gained in 2005 (6.15 million euros in operating income and 5.6 million euros generated by the issue of equity notes). The financial charges rose from €38K in 2005 to €64K in 2006, primarily as a result of the accumulation of interest due on the said equity notes issued in 2005). Financial income thus rose by €88K between 2005 and 2006.
The French research tax credit ("crédit d'impôt recherche", CIR) for the 2006 fiscal year was €213K, whereas it amounted to €453K in 2005. After making major investments in 2004 and 2005, Cellectis reduced the growth of its investment budget in 2006. Given that the CIR is primarily calculated by comparing year n with years n-1 and n-2, the lower investment rate explains the shrinkage of the CIR in 2006.
The 2006 fiscal year resulted in a net loss of 3.4 million euros, compared with a loss of €772K seen for the 2005 fiscal year.
In 2006, Cellectis invested €155K in intangible assets. This mainly consisted of new patent filings covering the company's process and products, together with expenditure related to the extension of patents into a variety of geographical zones (PCT extension, United States, Japan, etc.).
Over the course of the 2006 fiscal year, Cellectis invested more than €500K in tangible assets. This investment can be broken down into an investment of around €260K in refurbishing the laboratories (L1/L2) on the Biocitech site in Romainville and acquisition of laboratory equipment (such as freezers and Q-Pix colony pickers) for around €233K.
Trade receivables and related accounts shrunk by around €700K between December 31 2005 and December 31 2006. In fact, many of these invoices were issued in late 2005 and were settled in early 2006. In parallel, other accounts receivable appreciated by around 1 million euros - primarily because of the strong increase in grants due (+€520K) following multiple awards over the 2005-2006 period (the European Union, the French National Research Agency, the French Ministry of Industry, OSEO-ANVAR). The research tax credit (+€210K) and VAT accounts receivable related to royalties due to the Pasteur Institute (+€200K) essentially explain the remainder of the increase in the "other accounts receivable" item between fiscal year 2005 and fiscal year 2006.
Cellectis' share capital increased from €127K (as of December 31 2005) to €254K (as of December 31 2006). This increase (which took place in December 2006 via the incorporation of reserves drawn from the "paid-in capital" account), enabled the company to fulfill certain criteria and continue preparing for its subsequent IPO.
Other equity appreciated by around €165K, essentially due to payment of a new tranche of the reimbursable advance awarded by OSEO-ANVAR.
Accounts payable and related accounts increased by almost 1 million euros between December 31 2005 and December 31 2006. This is explained in part by accrued invoices, of which the most significant proportion related to royalties on sublicense income due to the Pasteur Institute (around €600K), with another significant proportion related to IPO preparation costs. In fact, all the fixed costs (legal fees (€240K), remuneration of the statutory auditor (€75K), PR costs (€110K) and printing costs (€20K)) incurred in preparation of the IPO are accounted for in the 2006 fiscal year.
About Cellectis S.A.
Cellectis S.A. is a biotech company developing innovative, proprietary technologies for genome engineering: a new class of "molecular scissors" - MeganucleaseTM enzymes - capable of recognizing, binding and cutting DNA with extremely high specificity. The company is developing and commercializing Meganuclease Recombination Systems (MRSs) which combine these molecular scissors with a DNA matrix for targeting and modifying a gene of interest in vivo (and without affecting the rest of the genome) via the action of the cell's natural maintenance and repair system. Cellectis now holds a portfolio of 8 MRSs in development, of which 5 have a therapeutic focus.
Cellectis is a spin-off from the Pasteur Institute in Paris, which has granted the company exclusive rights to 26 of the 27 granted patents and 38 of the 69 pending applications in its current portfolio, including one which will fall into the public domain in 2009, followed by 6 others in 2010. Before its IPO, Cellectis had already raised 17.5 million euros in two rounds (in 2000 and 2002/2005) to support its R&D and commercial development. The company's principal shareholders are AGF Private Equity, BankInvest Biomedical Venture, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Kaminvest Holding and Odyssée Venture. To date, Cellectis has signed 45 collaboration agreements and alliances worldwide with pharma companies (including AstraZeneca, Merck & Co., Wyeth and Shire), agrochemical groups (including Bayer, DuPont and BASF) and biotech companies (including Genentech, Regeneron and Lexicon Genetics). Cellectis' corporate headquarters are located on the Biocitech biopark at Romainville near Paris. It currently has 42 staff, including 16 PhDs.
For more information on Cellectis, visit our web site: www.cellectis.com
