Aura Extends Cash Runway, Refocuses on Ocular Oncology
CoMpass enrollment finished above target with 108 patients.
Aura Biosciences (AURA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, extended its projected cash runway into the first half of 2029 under a refocused operating and capital-allocation plan.
The company shifted resources toward ocular oncology, increasing investment in programs for metastases to the choroid and ocular-surface cancer while minimizing future allocations to its non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, or NMIBC, program.
Second-quarter research-and-development expense rose to $30.7 million from $22.9 million a year earlier, primarily because of Phase 3 CoMpass clinical and contract-research costs and spending on bel-sar manufacturing and development. General and administrative expense climbed to $17.3 million from $5.7 million.
Total operating expenses reached $48.1 million, compared with $28.6 million a year earlier, and the operating loss widened by the same amount. The net loss increased to $45.6 million from $27.0 million, while the loss per share edged up to $0.48 from $0.47 as weighted-average shares rose to 94.9 million from 58.0 million.
Aura ended June with $323.8 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, up from $144.2 million at the end of 2024. Marketable securities accounted for most of the increase, rising to $256.0 million from $84.7 million.
Interim NMIBC results showed an 81% three-month objective response rate among 16 intermediate-risk patients, including a 69% complete response rate. Every evaluable patient who reached nine months or 12 months remained disease-free, and treatment-related adverse events were limited to Grade 1, with no dose-limiting toxicities or treatment-related serious adverse events.
Topline data from CoMpass remain expected in the second half of 2027. Aura also expects updates and study-completion guidance for its two newer ocular-oncology programs in the first quarter of 2027.
The refocus included a restructuring that would reduce its workforce by approximately 20%, aligning its cost base with the narrower ocular-oncology strategy.