Zymeworks Swings to Loss as Collaboration Revenue Fades
Ziihera generated $1.8 million in quarterly royalty revenue as commercial cash flows began to emerge.
Zymeworks Inc. (ZYME), a biotechnology company developing multifunctional medicines, swung to a second-quarter loss as nonrecurring collaboration revenue faded and financing costs rose.
Revenue fell 90.6% to $4.6 million from $48.7 million a year earlier, when results included collaboration payments that did not recur. The company posted a net loss of $45.0 million, or $0.62 a share, compared with net income of $2.3 million, or $0.03 a share.
Lower spending softened the effect of the revenue decline. Research-and-development expense decreased 20% to $27.4 million as Zymeworks spent less on later-stage, discontinued and earlier-stage programs, helping total operating expense fall 5.3% to $46.8 million. Operating loss nevertheless widened to $42.2 million from $0.7 million.
General-and-administrative expense rose 29% to $19.3 million, primarily because stock-based compensation nearly doubled to $11.3 million. Excluding specified items, adjusted gross operating expense declined 18.6% to $35.4 million, including reductions in both adjusted R&D and adjusted G&A.
Cash, equivalents and marketable securities declined 20.1% from the end of March to $322.5 million at June 30, partly reflecting share repurchases. Zymeworks spent $49.4 million through Aug. 4 under its new $125 million authorization, buying about 2 million shares at an average $25.04 each.
The company stopped providing cash-runway guidance as it prepared for recurring commercial cash flows and withdrew its standalone operating-expense framework because that outlook preceded the pending Theravance Biopharma acquisition. The transaction is expected to add roughly $60 million in annualized cash flow from YUPELRI’s U.S. profit share and international royalties; the respiratory drug’s first-quarter U.S. sales rose 7% to $62.4 million.
Clinical programs also advanced. Johnson & Johnson expanded planned enrollment in the Phase 3 pasritamig trial to 1,203 patients while moving estimated primary completion forward to December 2027. Confirmed response rates for ZW191 were 78.6% in FRα-positive ovarian tumors and 47.4% in FRα-negative tumors, adding a biomarker breakdown to the earlier combined response data.