Holliston’s Biostage has cut its losses down even as it prepares to launch human trials of its Cellframe organ implants.
The company announced second quarter losses of $2.7 million, which was down from $4.5 million for the second quarter of 2015. This news came as the organization increased research and development expenses by $600,000 year-over-year in the quarter up to $1.7 million, according to a release from the company. The company was able to cut general and administrative expenses to $1.2 million from $3.5 million in the same quarter of 2015.
“The second quarter of 2016 has proven to be the company’s best execution and operational quarter to date, and I am thrilled with our progress. We advanced our clinical and regulatory strategy by executing on all fronts in earnest and have prepared Biostage for upcoming catalytic events, which we expect will drive value in the near-term,” Biostage CEO Jim McGorry said in a statement.
Chief among those upcoming events is potential human testing of the company’s bioengineered organ regeneration technology that has proven it can successfully recreate parts of a pig’s esophagus. The small biotech company, with 22 employees, is in the process of putting together its investigational new drug (IND) filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Cellspan esophageal implants. If approved, human testing could begin in 2017.
