COMPASS Pathways plc (Nasdaq: CMPS) reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2021. The net loss was $12.7 million, or $0.35 loss per share (after including non-cash share-based compensation expense of $1.7 million), versus $8.6 million, or $0.93 loss per share, during the same period in 2020 (after including non-cash share-based compensation expense of $1.7 million)

Research & development (R&D) expenses were $6.9 million versus $5.2 million during the same period in 2020. Compass said that $1.4 million reflected increased development activities, including hiring additional staff, as COMPASS progresses its COMP360 psilocybin therapy in TRD, and continues to explore additional indications and therapeutic approaches

George Goldsmith, Chairman, CEO and Co-founder, COMPASS Pathways, said, “Our recent financing gives us additional resources to work even faster and to expand our efforts, grow our team, and focus on developing new indications, new compounds and new technologies, building on our leadership position in psilocybin therapy and mental health care. Far too many people are suffering with mental health challenges today. We are focused on developing evidence-based therapies that can make a difference and be accessible to as many patients as possible who might benefit. The COMP360 data published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed promising signals in a small investigator-initiated study. We are approaching the completion of our phase IIb trial of COMP360 psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression, and on track to report data by the end of the year.”

The company still has plenty of cushion as it develops its products. Pro-forma cash and cash equivalents were $179.5 million as of March 31, 2021, compared with $190.3 million on December 31, 2020. On May 4, 2021, following the end of the reporting period, COMPASS completed a public offering of 4,000,000 American Depositary Shares at a price of $36.00 per ADS for total gross proceeds of $144 million.

Granted Patents

Two new patents were granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office for Compass. The patents cover oral formulations of COMPASS’s synthetic psilocybin in the treatment of MDD and Compass’s high-purity crystalline psilocybin (including the form used in COMP360), pharmaceutical formulations containing crystalline psilocybin, and methods of treating MDD with crystalline psilocybin. Compass’s innovation has now been recognized with six granted patents, including three in the US, two in the UK, and one in Germany