Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM), better known for developing drugs to treat cancer, reported financial results for the recently concluded the year 2015. The fluctuating global pharmaceutical market hit the company badly as its net loss for the year 2015 increased to $1.61 per share or $57.9 million.
Insights of Matter
At the end of December 2015, it had $110.3 million in the form of cash and cash equivalent compared to $92.7 million on December 31, 2014. There was no gain from operational activities; rather it used $45.6 million in operating activities in the year 2015.
The Research and Development expenses for 2015 were $40.6 million as compared to $35.4 million for the year 2014. The main reason for the increment of $5.2 million in R&D expenses on YOY basis was but the extra cost incurred on the contract research organization expense for chemistry, outsourced biology, clinical services, and development. Apart from this, Verastem also witnessed additional charge of $558,000 on consulting expenses and $1.4 million on other expenses, which contributed to increment in R&D expenditure.
When it comes to General and Administrative expenses, Verastem Inc reported $17.6 million against $18.2 million in the year 2014. The entire senior management team of the company was delighted to witness this reduction of about $525,000 in G&A expenses on YOY basis. According to reports, this reduction was due to a decrease of $446,000 in professional fees and stock-based compensation expenditures of $1.1 million. These two negative growth figures were offset by an unexpected increment of about $856,000 in personal expenses.
Based on the present cash position of the company, the senior management team finds Verastem in a comfortable position to carry out future projects, research programs and product launches in 2016 and the upcoming years. Details of all such projects and initiatives will be shared with the investors from time to time.
