It’s been a busy quarter for Juno Therapeutics with several different immunotherapy trials underway and a big hiring push as it expands research capabilities.
The Seattle-based biotech giant, which re-engineers the immune system to fight cancer, reported a non-GAAP net loss of $64.6 million or $.64 per share for the second quarter, versus a $29.6 million loss, or $.35 per share over the same period last year.
Juno’s stock rose slightly in after-hours trading Thursday following the release of its quarterly earnings.
The company reported $27.6 million in revenue in the second quarter, a 120 percent increase over this time last year, when it posted $12.5 million in revenue. Juno said a big part of its revenue this quarter comes from a payment from partner Celgene made as part of 10-year, $1 billion deal announced last year. That deal will allow partner Celgene to commercialize Juno’s cancer and autoimmune disease research.
Juno has spent a lot more on research and development than did a year ago. Juno reported non-GAAP research and development costs of $72.1 million this quarter, more than triple the $23.9 million spent over the same period last year.
Expenses have risen because Juno is in the middle of a number of trials and is expanding its research and development capabilities. The firm has been hiring, going from 307 employees at the end of 2015 to about 450 as of mid-July. Most of those new employees are involved in research.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered a hold on one of Juno’s trials after three patients died last month when a chemotherapy drug was introduced into the pre-conditioning regimen. The trial resumed a week later after the suspect drug was removed.
That trial, known as JCAR015, could be approved as early the first half of 2018, Juno said. JCAR015 is one of a new class of treatments known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR-T. Such treatments enlist the body’s own immune system to attack cancer cells. Juno is conducting several other CAR trials.
