Arcadia Biosciences sales down 79% in 2018 Q1

Date:05-10-2018

A strong start to 2018 in product development and commercialization plans for consumer-driven health and nutrition ingredient products, fifth consecutive reduction in year-over-year quarterly operating loss

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc., an agricultural food ingredient company, today released its financial and business results for the first quarter of 2018.

“With the launch of our GoodWheat™ brand and notable technical achievements in our Resistant Starch and Reduced Gluten wheat products, 2018 is shaping up to be a game-changing year at Arcadia,” said Raj Ketkar, president and CEO. “We made a strong start in our commercialization plans for our wheat quality portfolio in the first quarter, all the while containing our operating costs, leading to another year-over-year reduction in our quarterly operating loss.”

Q1 2018 Operating and Financial Highlights

• GoodWheat™ Branded Ingredients Platform. Arcadia launched its GoodWheat™ brand of wheat ingredients to add value to the entire wheat value chain, from seed to table, by enabling a wider range of choices to meet evolving consumer demands. The platform includes Arcadia’s current and future non-GM wheat portfolio of high fiber Resistant Starch (RS) and Reduced Gluten (RG) wheat varieties, as well as future wheat innovations.
   
• High Fiber, Resistant Starch Wheat Milestones. Arcadia announced two key technical milestones in its high fiber, RS wheat lines. Arcadia’s RS wheat varieties contain 94 percent amylose, compared to 25 to 30 percent in traditional wheat. Increased levels of amylose correspond to higher levels of resistant starch, which has been proven to deliver significant health benefits. These same wheat varieties deliver levels of total dietary fiber high enough to meet the FDA’s threshold for “Good Source” of fiber and “High in Fiber” designations on consumer packaging. These new non-GM wheat varieties, naturally high in fiber, will help satisfy consumers’ demands for healthier, clean-label ingredients in their favorite wheat-based foods.
   
• Reduced Gluten Wheat. Arcadia added new Reduced Gluten wheat to the GoodWheatTM portfolio, with plans to have lines available for commercial testing by the end of the year. Arcadia’s RG wheat product is a non-GM, patent-pending, identity preserved specialty wheat in which allergenic glutens have been reduced by 75 percent while the levels of glutens important for baking are not changed. With the growing number of consumers making a conscious effort to reduce gluten in their diets, Arcadia believes its RG wheat represents a rich and untapped opportunity for specialty products and unique brand extensions.
   
• Agricultural Productivity Traits Increase Yields in Rice. In two crop seasons of field trials, three of Arcadia’s abiotic stress traits stacked together demonstrated double digit yield increases in rice. Multiple lines carrying the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), water use efficiency (WUE) and salinity tolerance (ST) traits outperformed control lines by an average of 25 percent under limiting nitrogen applications, when measured for yield. The same lines yielded an average of 40 percent more than controls under combined limiting nitrogen and drought conditions in the field. These results indicate that there may be synergistic effects between the traits that protect crop yields against a variety of challenging growing conditions, including nutrient deficiency, drought and salinity.
   
• Strengthened Financial Position. Arcadia raised $10M in funding through a private placement (PIPE) financing this quarter, bringing its cash balance to $20.4 million with no debt at March 31, 2018. The company is well funded to begin commercialization activities for its portfolio of health and nutrition products.

Q2 Strategic Outlook

Building Commercialization Capabilities. As the company transforms from a technology/ trait partner to a value-added ingredient company, Arcadia is building new capabilities in terms of lead qualification and tracking, branding, value pricing, portfolio and product lifecycle management, business strategy and product introduction. Arcadia is also building relationships across the wheat value chain, including farmers, breeders, identity preservation, millers and food companies, in preparation for commercialization of its non-GM wheat products.

Revenues

In the first quarter of 2018, total revenues were $214,000 compared to revenues of $1.0 million in the first quarter of 2017, a 79 percent decrease. The quarter-over-quarter decrease was driven mainly by a $554,000 reduction in our contract research and government grant revenue due to the completion of a government grant during 2017, as well as a short-term research contract in the first quarter of 2017 that was not present in 2018. Over the next 12 to 36 months, as the company transitions to its new focus on health and nutrition quality products, Arcadia expects revenue from government grants, research contracts and license revenues to be replaced by product and trait revenues.

Operating Expenses

In the first quarter of 2018, operating expenses totaled $4.1 million, down from $5.0 million in the first quarter of 2017, a decrease of $928,000 or 19 percent. Cost of product revenues decreased by $70,000 as a result of lower sales when comparing the respective periods. Research and development (R&D) spending decreased by $427,000 and general and administrative (SG&A) expenses decreased by $431,000. Both decreases were driven primarily by lower salaries and benefits, mainly the result of workforce reductions made during the first quarter of 2017.

Net Loss Attributable to Common Stockholders

Net loss attributable to common stockholders for the first quarter of 2018 was $10.6 million, a 152 percent increase from the $4.2 million loss in the first quarter of 2017. The increase was driven by the initial recognition, and subsequent fair value remeasurement, of the liabilities associated with the PIPE financing.