Nucor earnings beat by $0.08, revenue fell short of estimates
On Wednesday, 04 June 2025, Opko Health (NASDAQ:OPK) presented at the Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference 2025, outlining a strategic restructuring aimed at enhancing profitability and advancing its pipeline. The company highlighted its recent asset sale, pipeline updates, and financial strategy, while addressing challenges like lower-than-expected revenue from its growth hormone product.
Key Takeaways
- Opko Health sold its oncology diagnostics assets to LabCorp for $192.5 million upfront, with a potential $32.5 million earn-out.
- The company reported $450 million in cash at the end of Q1 2025, with plans to allocate $100 million each to R&D and stock buybacks.
- Despite lower Q1 revenue for Engenla due to copay assistance, Opko anticipates normal revenue levels for the rest of 2025.
- The MODEX Therapeutics platform shows promise, with updates expected by year-end.
- Strategic partnerships and government funding are key to advancing Opko’s pipeline.
Financial Results
- LabCorp Sale: Opko secured $192.5 million upfront from LabCorp for its oncology diagnostics, with an additional $32.5 million contingent on account integration.
- Growth Hormone Revenue: Q1 2025 revenue was $4.5 million, down from $9.6 million in Q4 2024, attributed to increased copay assistance.
- Profit Share Guidance: Opko forecasts a $30-40 million profit share from its growth hormone franchise in 2025.
- Cash Position and Allocation: The company ended Q1 with $450 million in cash, earmarking $100 million each for R&D and stock buybacks.
- BARDA Funding: Opko received $51 million from BARDA in 2025, supporting its MODEX R&D efforts.
Operational Updates
- Diagnostics Restructuring: Focused on profitable core diagnostics in New York/New Jersey after divesting California labs.
- MODEX Therapeutics: Progressing with the tetra-specific antibody 2001, with FDA safety updates expected by year-end.
- Merck Partnership: Phase one results for the EBV vaccine are anticipated this year.
- Oxyntomodulin Program: IND for obesity and NASH treatment expected later this year.
Future Outlook
- Profitability Focus: Emphasizing profitability in core diagnostics and expanding Engenla’s indications with Pfizer.
- Pipeline Advancement: Continued progress in clinical development for multiple programs, leveraging partnerships and government funding.
- Strategic Partnerships: Exploring collaborations to finance R&D and advance the pipeline.
Q&A Highlights
- LabCorp Integration: The $32.5 million earn-out will be assessed six months post-closing based on business transfer.
- Growth Hormone Royalty Rate: Currently in the single-digit range, with potential to reach mid-20s as the franchise expands.
- EBV Vaccine Strategy: Initially targets mononucleosis, with plans to address EBV-related cancers and multiple sclerosis.
For a detailed discussion of Opko Health’s strategic plans and financial outlook, refer to the full transcript below.
Full transcript - Jefferies Global Healthcare Conference 2025:
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: Yep. I’m good.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Good back. Okay. Hi, everyone. My name is Maury Raycroft and one of the biotech analysts at Jefferies. So it’s a great pleasure that I’d like to welcome the team from OpCo.
We’ve got Elliot Serhouni, president, and then Adam Logel, CFO. Thanks so much for joining us today. We’re going to do a fireside chat format. So maybe to start things off for those who are new to the company, you can give a one minute intro to OPKO.
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: Yeah. So OPKO Health is a diversified pharmaceutical and diagnostic services company. It was created in 1991 at the beginning and and by Phil Frost, who is the founder of the company. And the company has a pharmaceutical business that is revenue producing in both in Latin America and here with Engenla, which is a growth hormone product that was partnered with Pfizer. We have diagnostic tests like the the four k test for prostate cancer and then a bio reference laboratory.
She’s one of the top 10 laboratories in the country at this point. And then on the other side, we have a pharmaceutical discovery business, R and D, a biotech company called Modex Therapeutics, which specialized in multi specific antibodies, which is basically a form of antibodies that has been developed to attack not just one target but multiple targets at once. So think of it as multiple warhead capabilities and then vaccine platforms. MODEX joined OpCo. It was merged with OpCo in 2022 and is the biotech side of the business.
So think of it as a diagnostic branch and a therapeutic branch and developing new novel products on the therapeutic branch and then having a diagnostic and in line pharmaceutical business.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Got it. Yeah. That’s a great summary and overview. And I wanted to start with the diagnostics part of the company because you’ve had some updates recently there. On March 11, you announced a second sale to LabCorp, which includes all oncology and oncology related diagnostics.
And that was $192,500,000 upfront in cash with up to an additional $32,500,000 earn out upon clearing of certain accounts. Just wondering how does this sale help you streamline operations and increase profitability for the remaining diagnostics business?
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: Well, I’ll let Adam speak to that, but but I’m starting by this. You know, the the bioreference lab had done extremely well during COVID and expanded very rapidly after COVID. And then when the testing for COVID dropped, that presented a need for restructuring. When we analyze the company, it was clear that out of the five hundred five hundred and twenty million dollars revenue, 300 at the core were very solid, and that was the New York, New Jersey area. But then when you looked at the expansion outside of that, it was more costly to run the laboratories in California.
So that was the first transaction that we did to divest, and monetize, in fact, that part of the company. And then in oncology, the fact is that in oncology, we had the best turnaround time, very high quality services, but we didn’t have the scale. And so that was the other reason why we decided to go down to our most profitable core, which is the New York, New Jersey market. But I’ll let Adam tell you about the financial status of that.
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: Yeah, thanks Elliot. So the business itself continues to do well at the core. We expect the business to be profitable starting effectively now, but throughout 2025 continuing to see the EBITDA improve of that core business that we’re retaining, principally driven through the consolidation efforts that Elias mentioned as well as the four ks score, which is a high margin, profitable test. So making great progress there. Got it.
And
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: how does that set you up for just, well I guess for the deal to close, are there specific gating factors that have to happen?
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: It’s really at this point, it’s the integration steps that are required. There’s a couple state regulatory approvals that are needed. We expect to have all of those shortly but it’s really the integration efforts to ensure the continuity care for the patients and physicians. Got it. And part of
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: this deal is the 32,500,000.0 earn out when specific accounts are integrated with LabCorp’s business. Is there any perspective you can provide on that just from like a timeline perspective on when that could happen? Just the chances of that happening.
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: Yeah, it’s measured six months post closing of how much of that business came across for specified accounts. We continue to have good positive conversations with those clients that are moving over, but it’ll be measured six months post close. Got
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: it, okay. And wondering what your thoughts are with the rest of the business. Is this something you continue to try to optimize? Or could you potentially sell the rest of the business? And with this second sale of the diagnostic assets to LabCorp, it was approximately two to 2.5x multiple on sales versus the first sale of diagnostics assets for 2.5 X multiple.
What do you think would be an appropriate multiple for the remaining diagnostics business?
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: So we continue to focus on the profitability in the growth of the remaining business knowing that by owning a growing and profitable business, it will become more valuable overall. We think that the relative trading multiples are two to three times revenue and that’s where we’ve seen those initial transactions and with this remaining business being profitable and growing should see that range of multiples. Got it. So not really committing to trying to sell it, wanted to
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: make it more profitable and you’ll see what happens, whatever makes the most sense.
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: The optionality is what we’re looking for, that’s right.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Okay, makes sense. And wanted to shift gears and talk about growth hormone and that collaboration with Pfizer. And that includes a profit share agreement for the weekly growth hormone, Anjenla, and then Pfizer’s daily growth hormone, Genotropin, as well. And you reported lower than expected related revenue of $4,500,000 versus $9,600,000 in fourth quarter twenty twenty four. What has Pfizer cited as the reasons for the lower than expected revenue in the first quarter?
And what do you expect for second quarter?
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: Yeah, the primary driver for the shortfall in Q1 and as we only brought our guide down by the shortfall in Q1, we don’t expect it to persist throughout the year was really a gross to net issue where we saw higher than expected copay assistance program support for Pfizer that came through during the first quarter. We do think and Pfizer believes that that’s a Q1 event and most of those patients have gone through that copay assistance program. And as we resume the rest of the year, it’ll return to normal levels. And that’s where we expect the rest of the
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: year to shape up. Got it, okay. And in the past you’ve said that we can think about this, in general, profit share like an effective royalty rate in the mid single digits. And this could grow to mid-twenty percent range. What is the current effective royalty rate for an general?
And do you still expect it to reach the mid-twenty percent mark over the long term?
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: Yeah, the effective royalty rate today on the franchise still sits in the single digit range. The way it’ll grow is as the franchise overall expands as well as as the long acting expands is the total piece of the pie. The long acting conversion has been slower than we expected. I think globally the long acting take up around 15 to 20% of the overall growth hormone deficiency market. We think that will continue to expand and as the franchise reaches peak, it could reach those mid twenties effective royalty rates.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Got him. And you’re guiding to 30 to 40,000,000 in growth hormone profit share for 2025. How do you view the profit share evolving longer term and what could peak look like?
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: Yeah, so Pfizer’s the commercial entity, right? So they’ve in the past said that they think Ingemla could be a $500,000,000 to a billion dollar product. We know that Genotropin’s peak revenue was in the $700 to $750,000,000 range. So all sounds right to us. And we think that our participation in the mid 20s will be where that could be.
Pfizer’s working today to expand the label for the additional pediatric indications and expect those trials to commence late this year.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Later this year? And what are some of those potential expansion opportunities? They’re going
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: to run a basket trial looking at all the different indications that have pediatric indications. Got it.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Okay. Okay. And I want to shift gear to MODEX. Alias, you mentioned this is kind of the therapeutics platform and part of OpCo. You plan to show clinical safety update from your tetra specific antibody 2,001 by the end of twenty twenty five.
Can you provide more specifics on this antibody and especially the CD3 masking approach? And, yeah, maybe Right. So this is actually the first quadri specific in the world that has been launched against two cancer targets, c Metrop two and two
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: activating signals, c d three, c d 28 for T cells. And what what we’ve done, we redeveloped a a molecule that doesn’t have masking. Masking is a different thing. Masking is when you cover one of the binders, c d three in general, then you you you hope that it gets to the tumor and then it opens up. It’s not what we have.
We we adjusted the the affinity of the of the c d three and the c d 28 so that and the c because it’s quadratic specific, there’s only one binder, not two. So it doesn’t over activate c d three until it really locks into the tumor. So that’s really what this molecule is. Innovative in nature, the platform is unique, we’ve shown that it can be done, we can do triple, I mean, bi specific, tri specific, quadri, up to six specificity. Now in terms of the trial, the clinical trials, the first one to go to the clinic, the big question that people had was would it be toxic, would it be too toxic?
So with the FDA, we did a six steps process and we have gone through four, and then we’re going to fifth in this month and but you don’t know how long that takes because it’s a cohort at the time. And then the sixth one towards September, October. So by the end of the year, we hope to have gone through what we call the safety window, with the FDA, and then we will be at what we think is the the beginning of therapeutic doses. And obviously, we’ll do a a basket trial at that time. And then depending on the results we observe, we will focus on the one or two tumors that have the best responses.
Now these tumors have to have a high expression of Trop two, high expression of c Met, and there are 14 tumor types that have actually this kind of thing, but we need to really narrow it down. We cannot do 14, but eventually if this works it would be a pipeline in a single molecule. So that’s going well. And, now we have other programs that are emerging. You know, there will be at least two programs this year that are going to the clinic.
The partnership with Merck is going well. As you know, we’ve had a vaccine that we developed for EBV that they licensed in for $50,000,000 upfront and 870,000,000 in milestones. It’s going well. They’ve they financed us because we carried the molecule to phase one, and now they are developing it. They’re in the middle of phase one, and hopefully we’ll hear about it this year.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Got it. And maybe going back to 02/00/2001. For the where you expect to see efficacy with the dose escalation? Should we think that that could be like the sixth dose level? Or how are you framing that?
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: We don’t know. We don’t know. We are observing some changes right now that tell us that the drug is active. And we’re, you know, looking at some responses and we have fast progressors that are stable now, but that is anecdotal and should not be taken seriously because what my experience is that, you know, there’s a randomness to the response at the beginning and every patient is different. I think after the sixth dose, that’s when it gets serious.
Yeah. Because we’re already seeing that the the drug’s effective, it’s maintaining its effects efficacy, I mean its effectiveness, but then we will know that after the sixth level. That’s the plan.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Are you getting some voluntary biopsies from these patients to see what
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: the TROP two and C might look like? We do have biopsy material so we can measure that. But it’s not a, you know, you call a diagnostic selection criterion. It’s really the at this point, it’s a phase one, remember. So it’s really safety.
Yeah. And so we do patients that are in that third line, fourth line. They’ve gone through a lot of things. So it wouldn’t make any sense at this point to sort of say, I want to see if there’s cMAT or Trop two in the patient who is really in the fourth stage and and and try to see efficacy. You see?
That, we will in the phase one b, then we will in fact try to get patients with biopsies to see how many Trop two receptors they have, how many c Met receptors they have. Got it. Okay.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: And you mentioned for the c d three and c d twenty eight that lower affinity is is part of the rationale there. Is that specifically for c d three?
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: Is it CD three. Yeah. We think that that’s the real the real trigger, c d three. And so we’ve been trying to really adjust and and fine tune that with the preclinical data. And, we think that that might be, in fact, the magic thing because, you know, there’s a c d three, c d nineteen that was licensed by Merck for $700,000,000 upfront.
And that was, in fact, the approach that they used. Not masking. They used the tuning Yeah. Strategy. Got
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: it. Okay. And you mentioned some of the other programs for MODEX, and you’re gonna be starting two more phase one studies with two zero zero three and also your immune rejuvenator two two zero zero four in late twenty five or early twenty twenty six. Do you plan to run both of these studies to maximize economics to OpCo, or could you partner out one of the assets in the near term?
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: Right. So, you know, we are obviously, when you do r and d like I’ve done it, what happens is there are two things that that really hurt you if your pipeline is empty or if your pipeline is too full. Because if it’s full, you have to really finance the clinical development. That’s expensive. And so we’re looking at our alternatives and and trying to see partnering at early stage for some of the assets so that you can finance, in fact, other assets and and keep the economics for that.
I cannot tell you what and how. I only can tell you that there’s quite a bit of interest now in the multi specific field, and and we’re talking to multiple parties, but I cannot I cannot be predictive in any way. But we will try to finance our efforts through strategic partnerships. Yeah. Got it.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Okay. And can you give more perspective on the targets and mechanism for the immune rejuvenator asset? And which oncology or immunology indications do you plan to evaluate in Phase one?
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: Right. So the the the 2,003 is a c d 19, c d 20, c d three, d 28 quadrary specific. In lymphomas and and and liquid tumors, d 19, d 20 are the main markers that I mean, targets that people target, whether it be a, you know, a c d 20 antibody or the one from Roche or a c d 19 antibody, that’s the one from Amgen, we double we do we do two. Why? Because these tumors are usually have c d 19 and c d 20.
And if you attack c d nineteen, the tumor responds by growing the c d 20 cells and vice versa. So by attacking the two, we know from preclinical data, it’s a lot higher kill ratio and a lot higher response. So that’s one. The rejuvenator is another idea. You know, the idea is that if you really study what’s happening in immuno oncology, you get 15% responses and and long long long responses, but then it fails.
And it fails because the immune system is is exhausted. This is what p d one is supposed to solve because the two the the the immune system has tried to to destroy the cancer cells, but is tired, is exhausted. And so you put p d one that removes a block. But on the accelerator side, what could you do? Well, it turns out there are three signals to what we call signal one, two, and three, c d three, c d 28, and four one b b.
That signal four one b b is the one that gets this thing to be sustained, not just in cancer, but in any case where the immune system is depressed or or impaired. So aging, for example, you can see that in aging. That’s why older people get more cancers because their the immune system is sort of degraded by age. And then the same thing is true for other conditions where the system gets gets really older, if you will, even in cases where there’s immunosuppression and so on. So we came up with the idea and the realization that we can actually do a rejuvenation approach or reviving or or reinforcing the immune system, which will have enormous number of indications, we’re gonna test it in cancer first.
So we’re gonna try to do that. The trial is gonna start. We’re already, you know, pretty much in the late last stages of getting the IND and getting started this year. So it’s a it’s a it’s a it’s a to me, again, my strategy is always to use a a a drug that has multiple functionalities so that you can essentially achieve what I call a pipeline in the drug. That’s what I did when I was at Sanofi with Dupixent.
Dupixent, remember, is a dual action antibody. That is the future, I think, and that’s what we’re trying
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: to do. And for this immune rejuvenator for 02/2004, it’s so it sounds like four zero one b b is one of the targets?
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: No. No. No. Four one b b is not one of the targets. Four one b b is one of the activators.
It’s not just like, c d three is the first activator. So first, you you you activate the the cell. Send in the cell has to proliferate. So it gives a second signal, which is c d 28. And then this the the whole response needs to be magnified.
Right? And that’s for one b b, the role of for one b b. It’s a it’s a it’s a protein that that is attached to the antibody that basically maintains the the the immune system inactivity. In aging, it goes down. So we’re replacing that, if you will.
And what we’re seeing is that we see a major rejuvenation of the system.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Got it. Okay. But the targets here you haven’t disclosed for zero zero one? No.
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: Not the cancer targets.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Okay. Yeah. Okay. And maybe one quick question too. For 003, is the CD three affinity the same there or are there different CD three affinity?
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: No, it’s a different affinity. Got
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: it. Okay. Interesting. And maybe let’s I’m not
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: I’m not % sure. Now you’re really getting down in my mind because we have several I’ll check. I’ll I’ll give you the answer later, but I it’s a it’s a tuned affinity. Yeah. Okay.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: And you mentioned the Merck program too, which they’re on track to complete that phase one study in the second quarter of this year and make a go, no go decision on that program, which would trigger a milestone to OpCo. Wondering if if you could say what the milestone payment is and if there’s any data from that study that you think you’d be able to disclose this year as well.
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: I don’t recall what the milestone was. I think I don’t know. Do you know, Steve? Do you remember? I think it’s 20,000,000, but I’m not sure.
It’s something in that range for the beginning of phase two. Yeah. It’s going well. I mean, everything I hear from our colleagues at Merck is that it’s going well. They’ve done the first there’s a two two parts to phase one a.
One is with one adjuvant and then the other one with another adjuvant. The the one has been already completed and is doing well. And then the second is being completed as we speak. So we should hear any time now and and then the analysis would come up as to whether or not you go to phase two.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Right. Right. Yeah.
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: But Ryan, so far so good.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: And for phase two, with EBV, there’s been a lot of interest in potentially an approach for multiple sclerosis and other diseases as well. Any thoughts on what a phase two approach could look like?
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: Right. So when you when you develop a drug, you I mean, a vaccine, you first go after the primary target, which is the primary virus that creates the primary disease that you experience, which is mononucleosis. Right? So it’s the kissing disease, you know, kids get that. They get left nodes.
They get long syndrome and so on. So you want to to try that first. So the phase two is going to be driven against mononucleosis. Alright? Then in the second thing is you go after the side effects of the viral infection, in this case, cancer.
So there are two hundred thousand cases of cancers that are directly due to EBV lymphomas and and head and neck cancer and gastric cancer. So that’s the second phase. So then you do an expanded trial against that because you wanna see if you, in fact, reduce the amount, the the number of cancers. The third is basically underneath of that is MS. And because MS is a completely different trial design that you have to do.
So it’s really three phases. So you may have like, you know, two phase twos or three phase twos and and then you can go on to phase threes. You see what I mean? But the typical thing is mononucleosis first, cancer second, MS third.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Got it. That really helps with some of the strategy, thinking about the strategy there. So why don’t shift gears and talk about oxymodulin, which is a program where you’re partnered with Enterobio and you plan to develop an obesity and NASH with an IND expected later this year. Can you remind us how this oral drug can differentiate an obesity in NASH with its dual GLP-oneglucagon agonist mechanism?
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: So so let me tell you that the the drug is a GLP one glucagon coagonist, and we developed it, you know, with a new composition of matter a couple years ago, and we tested it in preclinical. And it’s really doing extremely well in the preclinical area. But the logic of it is really different because when you look at the action of GLP one and and on on on NASH, I mean, GLP one does there’s no real receptor of GLP one in the liver. It’s an indirect effect. It’s the effect of having lower appetite and losing fat and losing weight.
Glucagon, on the other hand, has direct action in the in the liver. And then when you look at the physiology of it, glucagon is actually a trigger for anti fibrotic downstream effects like FGF 21. So, for example, when you when you have the the molecule, you realize that it increases the level of FGF 21. And as you know, FGF 21 with with Acairo, Boston Pharma, and eighty nine Bio has shown itself to be more powerful, probably more effective in reducing fibrosis in patients with, you know, f one, f two, f three, f four. It’s being tested, as you know.
And then there is a Madrigal drug, which is a thyroid hormone, And then you realize that these two are complementary. So you so you you you definitely have a, what I call, an entry indication in the mesh area. Right? But then you have the GLP one and we know that the the the glucagon maintains metabolism, so there may be a different profile to the GLP GLP glucagon as opposed to GLP one GIP, which is the ali lily drug. And Boehringer Ingelheim has a GLP one glucagon and we we are we are comparing that.
So we think there is a potential for this drug. In addition, you know, Entera can deliver it orally, which I think is important because as you look at the patients who lose weight because of GLP ones, they rebound very quickly. And and so you you want to have something that maintains the weight loss over time without a lot of muscle loss.
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: Right.
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: That’s the idea behind oxyntomodulin.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Got it. Yeah. I think that’s a good perspective into how this drug can work. And for the phase one phase one a study to get the right PK and PD dose there, Maybe talk about the the plan there. And is that gonna be in patients with NASH?
I guess, would you start there? Or would you also include obesity?
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: We were discussing that, you know, because recruitment speed is different depending on the disease you have and the competitive nature of it. I cannot tell you. It’s a program that doctor Jane Shao is running and she’s actually evaluating this with key opinion leaders at this time.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Got it.
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: Okay. For We might do two, both. Right? I mean, it could be both. You can select patients that are obese and mash.
Right.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: In the same study. Yes. Yeah. Makes sense. And for showing differentiation, are there specific measures that you would be looking out for?
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: Oh, absolutely. I mean, issue fundamentally is going to be can you indeed achieve greater resolution of fibrosis and mash than other drugs? And being upstream of the of the of the pathway, that theoretically gives you an advantage.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Got it. And let’s see. At ADA, you’re going to have a poster with preclinical data on the sub q version. Would we be able to compare and contrast that with with the Madrigal drug? And
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: Not the Madrigal drug. It’s an oral Madrigal is an oral drug. It’s a different mechanism, but you can compare it to Adaptimmune, Altimmune, I think, is the name, and then Boehringer Ingelheim.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: For me Like clinical data. The effect that we’re seeing in would we be able to compare that? Guess is that kind of
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: the In preclinical benchmark.
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: In preclinical animal data.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Okay.
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: I think the benchmark is both Boehringer Ingelheim and Altimmune.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Got it. Okay. Makes sense. Okay. And let’s see.
Yeah. Anything else about that study that you want to highlight?
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: Just just we’re going forward, trying to do it as fast as we can. Okay. Yeah.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Makes sense. And I think those are all the questions we have. Maybe to close out if you want to highlight cash runway and talk about key catalysts ahead that investors should
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: be focused on. Sure. Excuse me. So we ended the first quarter with about $450,000,000 in cash and cash equivalents. We’ve committed to two things from a cash use perspective this year.
One was $100,000,000 in the operations of the various R and D programs and other operations we have going on. Another hundred million towards a stock buyback and convertible note back buybacks. So we’re continuing to be on pace for both of those. The 450,000,000 in cash and cash equivalents doesn’t include the hundred and 92,000,000 that we expect to receive from LabCorp when that transaction closes later this year. We continue to think from a cash runway perspective, we wouldn’t be deploying cash back into the balance sheet if we needed it for operations.
So the runway we feel is sufficient to develop the programs to degree that we have plans around it. As we think about catalysts, there’s probably a handful of clinical development activities that Elias highlighted already. I’ll just also mention bio reference in their return to profitability and growth going forward on the remaining businesses is a paramount catalyst for us. The continued development of the angela program for the additional indications and as Pfizer kicks that off as well as the gross profit share amounts that we receive continuing along.
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: And then I would add the fact that you know, we didn’t mention it but remember that government BARDA is funding MODEX to develop multi specific antibodies against COVID and flu. And we received 59,000,000 last year, 51,000,000 this year. We have 95, subject to meeting some milestones. It’s going well. It actually funds almost half of the r and d budget of MODEX.
Okay? So that’s a non dilutive source that we use to improve our platform and we’ve done a lot of work that applies outside of those disease areas. So that’s another point that needs to be understood is that our platform has attracted significant, nondilutive funding from the government this time. We we’re hearing that they are very happy so far, but you never know. But so far, we’re committed we’re committed to go to phase one for the first two molecules.
So and we’re going to do that as well.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Got it. And maybe last question with just with FDA being kind of a topical point of conversation. How have your interactions
Elliot Serhouni, President, OpCo: I tell you, everybody has told me the sky is falling, but every single time we approach them, we just approach them about our our COVID program. They responded in time, and when you ask for a meeting, they give it to you in time. And so I I haven’t seen the sky is falling thing from my point of view. Now I don’t know about everything else, but I can tell you I’ve I’ve I’ve not we’ve not had a significant delay because of that. I was worried about it, but it’s not happening.
Maury Raycroft, Biotech Analyst, Jefferies: Got it. Elias and Adam, thanks so much for joining us today.
Adam Logel, CFO, OpCo: Thank you, Mark. Thank you.
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