Relypsa Inc (NASDAQ:RLYP) has revealed that the compensation committee its board of directors, had permitted 4-new employees, the option to purchase a total of 17,200 shares, at a share price of $13.46. The decision was undertaken on March 1, in accordance with the company’s Employment commencement incentive plan. The plan had originally been approved by the board in June 2014.
Relypsa had announced its FY2015 and 4Q2015, earnings report, recently. The company reported that it had cash of $285 million. Added to this, the company expects its operating expenses to be somewhere between, $275 and $300 million. The figures also include stock based compensations, expected to be around $20 and $25 million, during 2016. Relypsa also announced that the increase in operating expenses is mainly due to the commercialization expense of Veltassa and additional studies on the drug. Veltassa was approved by the FDA on October 21, 2015, for the treatment of hyperkalemia.
RLYP had started commercializing the drug on December 21, 2015, in collaboration with the nephrology sales team of Sanoffi. As such, the actual potential of the drug is yet to be recognized. As such, the company reported a net operating loss of $387.6 million, mainly due to the lack of a marketable product. However, the picture for FY2016 is expected to be significantly better. The company is expected to raise a total of $40 million in revenues, during the current year. However, the figure is nowhere near its operating expenses.
The CFO of RLYP, Kristine Ball, stated that the process of building a market for the product, is taking its toll on the company. Therefore, Relypsa would have to look towards raising cash this year. Unfortunately, equity financing is not an option for the company, given the depressed condition of biotech stocks in the market. The CFO stated that Relypsa does have other financing options available for use.
Relypsa Inc (NASDAQ:RLYP) lost 3.35% of its share value, to close at a share price of $13.83, at the end of the March 3 session.
