GreenLight Biosciences announces fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results

GreenLight Biosciences (Nasdaq: GRNA), a public benefit corporation striving to deliver on the full potential of RNA to address some of the world’s toughest problems in human health and agriculture, has reported operational highlights and financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2022.

″Since our public listing a year ago, GreenLight has made tremendous progress in service of our mission to deliver innovative RNA-based solutions addressing some of humanity’s greatest challenges,″ said Andrey Zarur, CEO of GreenLight. ″With our recent series of R&D days, we provided numerous exciting updates across our development portfolio and highlighted long-term strategies that balance the far-reaching prospects of our technology with the capital efficiency of strategic partnerships. These strategies will expedite development and commercialization following proof-of-concept.″

Fourth Quarter 2022 and Recent Operational Highlights

Program Updates

The company hosted a comprehensive R&D showcase day for Plant Health (March 7, 2023), providing numerous updates on development and regulatory progress. Highlights include:

• Active preparation for commercial sales of Calantha™, pending EPA approval
  

• GreenLight is expanding certain dsRNA-based fungal, insecticide, and acaricide programs into solutions that are designed to address multiple targets  
  

• Through data from early experiments and subsequent field trial studies conducted last year, GreenLight has demonstrated stability of RNA through a standard seed treatment process and dsRNA delivery into plants, showing decreased fusarium disease severity in lettuce seed treatment field trials across two locations and three lettuce varieties, and very preliminary indications of herbicidal activity   
  

Leadership Team Update

Management continues to implement a number of leadership changes following the October 2022 strategic reorganization. Recent personnel changes include the departure of Chief Scientific Officer Amin Khan, the promotion of Shelly Karuna to Chief Medical Officer, the promotion of Kimberly Warren to Chief Business Officer, and the promotion of Marta Ortega-Valle to Chief Sustainability Officer. As part of a planned succession to David Kennedy, Nina Thayer has been promoted to General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, upon his retirement. David Kennedy continues as an adviser to GreenLight.  

Fourth Quarter 2022 Financial Results  

• Cash Position: Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $68.1 million as of December 31, 2022, compared to $31.4 million as of December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily driven by proceeds received from the close of the business combination and concurrent PIPE financing in February as well as the August PIPE financing. This increase was offset in part by cash used to fund operations of approximately $136.7 million. 

  
  

• Collaboration Revenue: Collaboration revenue was $2.9 million during the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to none during the fourth quarter of 2021. This revenue was primarily related to license revenue related to our agreement with Serum Institute of India Private Limited.

  
  

• R&D Expenses: Research and development expenses increased by $4.6 million to $32.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to $27.8 million during the fourth quarter of 2021. This increase was primarily related to increased program costs related to R&D materials, manufacturing and service fees supporting the commercial-scale engineering run, pre-clinical trial activities and personnel expenses, as well as facilities costs such as rent and depreciation expenses. 

  
  

• G&A Expenses: General and administrative expenses increased by $2.2 million to $8.6 million during the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to $6.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2021. This increase was primarily related to an increased level of support required for the growth of the research teams and public company requirements. 

  
  

• Net Loss: The Company’s net loss was $38.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to $34.7 million during the fourth quarter of 2021
  

Financial Guidance

The Company expects its cash and equivalents of $68.1 million as of December 31, 2022 will be sufficient to fund planned operating expenses and capital expenditures, through the second quarter of 2023. Alongside recent measures, including a corporate realignment and portfolio prioritization, the Company continues to evaluate a range of opportunities to extend cash runway even further, including further management of program spending, additional platform licensing collaborations and potential further financing activities.