Arbutus Biopharma Corp

Arbutus ended the third quarter of 2024 with approximately $131 million of cash, cash equivalents and investments in marketable securities, versus approximately $132 million at December 31, 2023. In the first half of 2024, it received approximately $44 million of net proceeds from ATM share issuance and used $54.5 million in operations; no shares were issued under the ATM in Q3. The company still expects 2024 cash burn of $63 million to $67 million, and said cash runway funds operations into Q4 2026, assuming no financing. No revenue or EPS were reported on the call.

Mike McElhaugh framed the quarter around Arbutus’ goal of a functional cure for chronic hepatitis B and emphasized lowering surface antigen first, then adding an immune modulator. He highlighted the company’s view that the data from IM-PROVE I and II support advancing imdusiran as a cornerstone regimen, while AB-101 remains an additional immune-checkpoint approach with potential combination value. His tone was optimistic but measured, repeatedly noting that more data are coming next week at AASLD and that Phase IIb timing is still being worked through with regulators.

David Hastings focused on liquidity and cash usage. He said the company finished Q3 with approximately $131 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments, had $44 million of ATM proceeds in the first half, and used $54.5 million in operations during that period; he also reiterated expected 2024 cash burn of $63 million to $67 million. He added that the runway extends into the fourth quarter of 2026 and later clarified that this runway assumes no financing and does not include expected ATM proceeds.

Analysts pressed management on how to interpret the upcoming functional-cure data, especially the 20% bar and what denominator should be used. Management said 20% is an aspirational threshold, explained the cohort design in IM-PROVE I, and said results should be assessed across the full cohort as well as the subgroup with baseline surface antigen below 1,000 IU/mL. Questions also focused on AB-101 timing and what HBV biomarkers might move; management said the next readout will be HBV patient data in the first half of next year, but it was not yet ready to specify the exact dataset or to promise clear antiviral biomarker effects from a 28-day immune-modulator study. On the legal side, management said the Pfizer/BioNTech Markman hearing is set for December 18, 2024, and the Moderna trial date is now scheduled for September 24, 2025.