Mesoblast well funded despite rising losses

Regenerative medicine company Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) ended calendar year 2014 with cash reserves of $149.2 million, despite reporting a 64% increase in net loss for the first half of the financial year.

Mesoblast’s net loss grew to $50.8 million, partly as a result of a $10.8 million increase in cash expenditure due to the company’s clinical trial programs.

During the half-year, the company initiated a phase III program involving using its mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs) to treat chronic discogenic low back pain, another phase III trial for two product candidates in acute graft vs host disease and a phase II trial in immune-mediated diseases.

The company also continued recruiting for a phase III trial of its MPCs in chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) and reached agreement with the US-based National Institutes of Health on the protocol for a 120-patient trial in patients with end-stage CHF.

On the production side, Mesoblast made progress on the development of 3D manufacturing processes with the capacity to improve efficiency and yields of its products.

The company separately revealed it has been granted a key US patent covering use of MPCs to treat degenerated intervertebral discs.

The patent will grant Mesoblast exclusive commercial rights through to at least June 2029, and longer if term extensions are granted.

Mesoblast already has US patents covering Mesoblast’s product candidates for repair of intervertebral discs and for spinal fusion, and has applications pending for patents that would extend protection for its product candidates in chronic low back pain.

Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) shares were trading 2.3% higher at $4.44 as of around 1.30 pm on Thursday.

Image credit: ©freeimages.com/profile/tutu55