Woburn, Massachusetts, USA
November 9, 2018
Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. (Nasdaq:YTEN), a Company developing new technologies to achieve step-change improvements in crop yield to enhance global food security, today reported financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018.
"During the third quarter we continued to execute on our key objectives for 2018 as we signed a new research license with Forage Genetics for testing our yield traits in sorghum, clarified the regulatory path for genome-edited plants containing multiple edits, and advanced our yield traits in development," said Oliver Peoples, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Yield10 Bioscience. "As the end of the year approaches, we plan to report out results from our 2018 field tests; select the traits and constructs in Camelina, canola and soybean for field testing in 2019; and continue to identify opportunities for collaboration with leading players in the agricultural industry."
"Our recent agreement with Forage Genetics, a market leader in forage crops, will expand the evaluation of our traits in another commercially important crop. Further, it provides another path to generating data for our traits as well as a potential path to commercialization in sorghum if the traits add a performance benefit to the crop."
"Our results with C3004 in growth chamber studies showing seed yield improvements of up to 65% in Camelina are early, but very exciting, and highlight our leadership as an agricultural biotech innovator. This outstanding result is another demonstration that we can significantly increase seed yield based on insights developed using our technology platform. We are accelerating development of our C3004 trait alone and in combination with C3003, and we plan on using our Camelina platform for field testing in 2019. In addition, we believe there may be paths to develop C3004 as a genome-edited, nonregulated trait, and work is underway to deploy C3004 in canola and soybean," concluded Dr. Peoples.
Recent Accomplishments
Signed Research License with Forage Genetics for Development of Novel Traits for Sorghum. Yield10 signed a non-exclusive research license with Forage Genetics International, LLC, a subsidiary of Land O’Lakes, Inc., to evaluate five novel yield traits in forage sorghum. Under the license, Forage Genetics plans to conduct research with the novel traits within its sorghum development program as a strategy to improve biomass yields. The novel yield traits included in the research license agreement include C3003, a trait derived from algae, as well as four traits from Yield10's “GRAIN” platform, C4001, C4002, C4003 and C4029. The C4000 series traits included in the research license have been shown to significantly increase photosynthesis and biomass in research conducted by Yield10.
Nonregulated Status Confirmed for Camelina Containing Novel Oil Biosynthesis Pathway. Yield10 received confirmation of nonregulated status from USDA-APHIS for its genome-edited Camelina sativa plant lines developed using CRISPR-Cas9 for increased oil content. This clarification of the regulatory status of the triple genome-edited Camelina plant lines accelerates the path to conducting field trials in the United States in 2019.
Reported Promising Results for C3004 Trait in Camelina Platform. Yield10 reported promising results for its novel yield trait C3004 in growth chamber studies conducted using its Camelina platform. Camelina plant lines containing C3004 grew more vigorously, and the best lines produced increases in average seed yield (grams per plant) in a range of 26% to 65% as compared to control plants. Yield10 plans to conduct field tests of the C3004 trait in Camelina as part of its 2019 Field Test program in Canada. In addition, Yield10 is fast tracking deployment of the C3004 trait into canola and soybean to determine if the trait produces similar effects on plant vigor and seed yield in major oilseed crops.
Harvest Complete for 2018 Field Test Program. Yield10 recently completed the harvest of plants and seeds at field test sites in the U.S. and Canada. In the field test program, Yield10 tested versions of C3003 in Camelina and canola, and grew C3003 containing soybean lines primarily to bulk up seed for field tests planned for 2019. Yield10 is also conducted a study in the U.S. of Camelina lines that have been genome-edited to deactivate the C3008 gene as part of a new multi-gene trait approach to increase seed oil content and to potentially improve oil stability. Yield10 expects to report results of the field tests beginning in the fourth quarter of 2018.
THIRD QUARTER 2018 FINANCIAL OVERVIEW
Yield10 Bioscience is managed with an emphasis on cash flow and deploys its financial resources in a disciplined manner to achieve its key strategic objectives. The Company ended the third quarter of 2018 with $7.8 million in unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. The Company’s net cash used in operating activities during the third quarter of 2018 and the third quarter of 2017 was $1.8 million and $2.0 million, respectively.
The Company anticipates net cash usage of approximately $9.0 million to $9.5 million during its fiscal year ending December 31, 2018, including final payments of $0.5 million made during the first half of 2018 related to its restructuring that was undertaken in 2016.
For the third quarter ending September 30, 2018, the Company reported a net loss of $2.6 million, or $0.26 per share. The Company reported a net loss of $2.0 million or $0.59 per share, for the third quarter of 2017.
Total government grant revenue for the third quarter of 2018 and the third quarter of 2017 was $0.1 million and $0.2 million, respectively. Grant revenue for the third quarter of 2018 was earned from the Company's subcontract with Michigan State University. Research and development expenses for the three months ending September 30, 2018 and September 30, 2017 were $1.3 million and $1.1 million, respectively. The variance is primarily the result of increased employee compensation and benefits expense, resulting from the hiring of additional research personnel during 2018. General and administrative expenses for the three months ending September 30, 2018 and September 30, 2017 were $1.4 million and $1.1 million, respectively. The increase in general and administrative expense of $0.3 million is primarily the result of a lease impairment charge of $0.2 million recorded during the quarter for the Company's discontinued use of its Lowell, Massachusetts facility pursuant to a lease that will terminate in May 2020.
For the nine months ending September 30, 2018, the Company reported a net loss of $7.3 million, or $0.74 per share, as compared to a net loss of $6.8 million, or $2.25 per share, for the nine months ending September 30, 2017.
Total research grant revenue for the nine months ending September 30, 2018 was $0.4 million, compared to $0.8 million for the nine months ending September 30, 2017. Research and development expenses and general and administrative expenses were $3.7 million and $4.1 million, respectively, for the nine months ending September 30, 2018 compared to $3.4 million and $4.2 million, respectively, for the nine months ending September 30, 2017.
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