Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Business

v3.21.1
Business
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Business Business
Cerecor Inc. (the “Company” or “Cerecor”) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on becoming a leader in development and commercialization of treatments for rare and orphan diseases. The Company is advancing its clinical-stage pipeline of innovative therapies that address unmet patient needs within rare and orphan diseases.

The Company’s rare disease pipeline includes CERC-801, CERC-802 and CERC-803 (“CERC-800 compounds”), which are in development for therapies for congenital disorders of glycosylation and CERC-006, an oral mTORC1/2 inhibitor in development for the treatment of complex lymphatic malformations. The Company is also developing two monoclonal antibodies, CERC-002 and CERC-007. CERC-002 targets the cytokine LIGHT (TNFSF14) and is in clinical development for the treatment of severe pediatric-onset Crohn’s disease and COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome. CERC-007 targets the cytokine IL-18 and is in clinical development for the treatment of Still’s disease (adult onset Still’s disease and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis) and multiple myeloma. CERC-006, 801, 802 and 803 have all received Orphan Drug Designation and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation, which makes all four eligible for a priority review voucher (“PRV”) upon approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”).

The Company continues to explore strategic alternatives for its non-core assets, including its commercialized product, Millipred®, an oral prednisolone indicated across a wide variety of inflammatory conditions, and for its neurology pipeline assets.

Cerecor was incorporated and commenced operation in 2011 and completed its initial public offering in October 2015.

Liquidity

In January 2021, the Company closed an underwritten public offering of 13,971,889 shares of its common stock and 1,676,923 pre-funded warrants for net proceeds of approximately $37.7 million (see Note 9 for additional information). As of March 31, 2021, Cerecor had $38.3 million in cash and cash equivalents.

In order to meet its cash flow needs, the Company applies a disciplined decision-making methodology as it evaluates the optimal allocation of the Company’s resources between investing in the Company’s existing pipeline assets and acquisitions or in-licensing of new assets. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, Cerecor generated a net loss of $30.7 million and negative cash flows from operations of $18.3 million. As of March 31, 2021, Cerecor had an accumulated deficit of $208.5 million.

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern; however, losses are expected to continue as the Company continues to invest in its core research and development pipeline assets. The Company will require additional financing to fund its operations and to continue to execute its business strategy at least one year after the date the condensed consolidated financial statements included herein were issued. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

To mitigate these conditions and to meet the Company’s capital requirements, management plans to use its current cash on hand along with some combination of the following: (i) dilutive and/or non-dilutive financings, (ii) federal and/or private grants, (iii) other out-licensing or strategic alliances/collaborations of its current pipeline assets, and (iv) out-licensing or sale of its non-core assets. If the Company raises additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, the Company might have to relinquish valuable rights to its technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates. If the Company requires but is unable to obtain additional funding, the Company may be forced to make reductions in spending, delay, suspend, reduce or eliminate some or all of its planned research and development programs, or liquidate assets where possible. Due to the uncertainty regarding future financing and other potential options to raise additional funds, management has concluded that substantial doubt exists with respect to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements in this Quarterly Report were issued.
Over the long term, the Company’s ultimate ability to achieve and maintain profitability will depend on, among other things, the development, regulatory approval, and commercialization of its pipeline assets, and the potential receipt and sale of any PRVs it receives.