Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AUTL) reported Q1 EPS of ($0.69), $0.11 worse than the analyst estimate of ($0.58). Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.96 million, versus $426 thousand reported last year.

Financial results for first quarter 2019:

• Cash and equivalents at March 31, 2019 totaled $187.7 million, compared with $217.5 million at December 31, 2018.
• Net total operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2019 were $30.2 million, net of grant income of $2.0 million, as compared to net operating expenses of $15.5 million, net of grant income of $0.4 million, for the same period in 2018. The increase was due, in general, to the increase in clinical trial activity, which is expected to deliver on key milestones throughout the rest of 2019; increased headcount; and the cost of being a public company.
• Research and development expenses increased to $22.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019 from $11.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018. Cash costs, which exclude depreciation as well as share-based compensation, increased to $17.5 million from $10.6 million. The increase in research and development cash costs of $6.9 million consisted primarily of an increase of compensation-related costs of $5.6 million primarily due to an increase in headcount to support the advancement of our product candidates in clinical development, an increase of $2.7 million in facilities costs supporting the expansion of our research and translational science capability and investment in manufacturing facilities and equipment, and an increase of $0.8 million in research and development program expenses related to the activities necessary to prepare, activate, and monitor clinical trial programs, offset by a decrease of $1.9 million in professional fees primarily related to the UCL license fees expensed for the three months ended March 31, 2018, and other reductions of $0.3 million.
• General and administrative expenses increased to $9.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019 from $4.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018. Cash costs, which exclude depreciation as well as share-based compensation, increased to $6.3 million from $3.5 million. The increase of $2.8 million consisted primarily of an increase in compensation-related expense of $1.2 million due to an overall increase in headcount, and an increase in legal and professional fees of $0.9 million related to insurance and patent costs.
• Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was $27.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to $16.7 million for the same period in 2018.
• The basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share for the three months ended March 31, 2019 totaled $(0.69) compared to a basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share of $(0.58) for the three months ended March 31, 2018.
• Autolus anticipates that cash on hand provides a runway into the second half of 2021.

“In the first quarter of 2019, we made good progress in all aspects of the business. Important was the first presentation of clinical data from AUTO1 in adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which points to a differentiated profile for AUTO1,” stated Dr. Christian Itin, chairman and chief executive officer of Autolus. “For the remainder of 2019, we are placing particular focus on advancing our clinical programs, specifically AUTO3 in DLBCL and AUTO1 in adult ALL, towards registrational trials.”

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