Genfit S.A.

For 2021, revenue and other operating income were €85.6 million, up from €7.8 million in 2020. Operating expenses were €53.8 million versus €90.7 million a year earlier, producing €31.8 million of consolidated operating income compared with an operating loss of €82.9 million in 2020. Financial income was €37.7 million versus a financial loss of €18.8 million, leading to net profit of €67.3 million after €2.2 million of corporate income tax, compared with a net loss of €101.2 million in 2020. Cash and cash equivalents were €258.8 million at year-end, and total financial debt declined to €74.2 million from €185.7 million. Looking ahead, management expects cash used in operating activities to increase to €65 million in 2022, with up to €30 million of payments in the first half of 2022 tied to collected VAT and corporate tax related to the Ipsen upfront.

Pascal Prigent framed 2021 as a pivotal year after the end of the NASH development program, saying the company executed on three priorities: improve the balance sheet, advance remaining clinical programs, and build a more diversified pipeline. He highlighted that the Ipsen deal and convertible debt restructuring gave Genfit much greater financial visibility and flexibility, including future milestone and royalty potential. On strategy, he emphasized a shift toward ACLF and cholestatic disease, while continuing to position NIS4 for a future NASH diagnostic market if and when a drug is approved.

Tom Baetz focused on the financial reset and gave the main figures: €85.6 million of revenue and other operating income, €53.8 million of operating expenses, €31.8 million of operating income, and €67.3 million of net profit in 2021. He said the Ipsen upfront was €120 million, with €80 million recognized as revenue and €40 million deferred, and noted €5.3 million of research tax credit income. He also detailed the capital structure improvement: total financial debt fell to €74.2 million, convertible debt nominal was reduced to €56.9 million, and cash ended the year at €258.8 million. For 2022, he guided to about €65 million of cash used in operations, not including possible business development spending, and up to €30 million of near-term tax/VAT payments.

Analysts pressed management on business development appetite, particularly whether Genfit wants early-stage or clinical-stage assets. Pascal said the company is looking at both, but wants at least one clinical-stage deal if the data are compelling, while also building a portfolio of complementary mechanisms for ACLF. Follow-up questions asked about NTZ’s path to proof-of-concept and how it fits into ACLF biology; management said the current Phase 1 work is meant to support IND filing and eventual proof-of-concept, but it is too early to give precise timelines because FDA engagement and study design are still evolving. On NTZ’s rationale, Dean Hum said Genfit has confirmed antibiotic and anti-inflammatory activity and seen supportive signals in preclinical models, including effects on inflammatory markers and mortality in sepsis-like models.