Legend Biotech EPS beats by $0.08, beats on revenue

(March 18) Legend Biotech Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Financial Results and Business Update.

• Legend Biotech : Q4 GAAP EPS of -$0.22beats by $0.08.
• Revenue of $40.78M (+109.7% Y/Y)beats by $28.78M.

Financial Results for the Quarter and Year Ended December 31, 2020

Cash and Cash Equivalents and time deposits:

As of December 31, 2020, Legend Biotech had approximately $455.7 million of cash and cash equivalents and approximately $50.0 million in time deposits.

Revenue

Revenue for the three months ended December 31, 2020 was $40.8 million compared to $19.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2019. The increase of $21.3 million was primarily due to revenue recognition of additional milestone payment achieved of higher amount pursuant to Legend Biotech’s agreement with Janssen and the associated constrained variable consideration is relieved. Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $75.7 million compared to $57.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. Similarly, the increase of $18.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 was primarily driven by revenue recognized from an additional milestone achieved of higher amount. Legend Biotech has not generated any revenue from product sales to date.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2020 were $66.9 million compared to $66.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2019. This increase of $0.8 million was primarily due to an increase in employee benefit expense and research and development expense, net-off by a decrease in collaborative research and development expenses. Research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $232.2 million compared to $161.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 with a $70.3 million increase. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to a higher number of clinical trials, a higher number of patients enrolled in those trials and a higher number of research and development product candidates in the year ended December 31, 2020.

Loss for the Period

For the three months ended December 31, 2020, net loss was $57.8 million, or $0.22 per share, compared to a net loss of $63.9 million, or $0.32 per share, for the three months ended December 31, 2019. Net loss was $303.5 million, or $1.28 per share, for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to $133.0 million, or $0.66 per share, for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Key Upcoming Milestones

• Legend Biotech’s collaborator, Janssen, anticipates submitting a MAA for cilta-cel for the treatment of adults with RRMM to the EMA in the first half of 2021.
• Legend Biotech intends to use the data from the CARTIFAN-1 study in support of a regulatory submission to the China Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) seeking approval of cilta-cel for the treatment of adults with RRMM. Legend Biotech expects the submission of the application to occur in the second half of 2021.
• Legend Biotech’s collaborator, Janssen, anticipates submitting a New Drug Application (NDA) to the Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (JMHLW) in the second half of 2021 seeking approval of cilta-cel for the treatment of adults with RRMM.
• Legend Biotech expects to initiate its Phase 1 clinical trial of LB1901 in RR TCL inthe United Statesin 2021.
• Legend Biotech, in collaboration with Janssen, intends to present updated data from the CARTITUDE-1 and data from CARTITUDE-2 studies at major medical conferences in 2021.
• Legend Biotech anticipates supporting investigators with publishing a clinical data update from LEGEND-2 study in 2021.

As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, Legend Biotech has continuously monitored the situation in regards to its operations and has put significant measures in place to protect supply chain, operations, employees and the execution of clinical trials. Given the dynamic global situation, Legend Biotech notes that certain clinical trial timelines may be impacted.