Seres Therapeutics received a $50 million payment from Nestlé Health Science as part of the VOWST business sale.
Quiver AI Summary
Seres Therapeutics, Inc. announced the receipt of a $50 million installment payment from Nestlé Health Science related to the sale of its VOWST business, contributing to the company's financial outlook and expected operational funding through the first quarter of 2026. The company noted that it anticipates an additional $25 million payment in July 2025, net of employment-related costs. Seres, known for developing VOWST, the first FDA-approved oral microbiome therapeutic, is now focused on its pipeline product SER-155, targeting medically vulnerable patients and having received breakthrough designations due to its efficacy in reducing bloodstream infections. The company is navigating potential risks and uncertainties while aiming to maintain operations and plan future developments in the field of live biotherapeutics.
Potential Positives
- Seres Therapeutics received a $50 million installment payment from the sale of its VOWST business, enhancing its cash position.
- The company expects an additional $25 million installment payment in July 2025, which will help fund operations into the first quarter of 2026.
- Seres is developing SER-155, which has received Breakthrough Therapy and Fast Track designations, indicating strong regulatory support and potential market viability.
- The company is targeting multiple medically vulnerable patient populations with its live biotherapeutic candidates, showcasing its commitment to addressing significant healthcare challenges.
Potential Negatives
- The company has incurred significant losses, is not currently profitable, and there is a possibility it may never achieve profitability.
- Seres Therapeutics has a history of operating losses and expresses a need for additional funding, indicating potential financial instability.
- The uncertainty surrounding the future installment payments from Nestlé and the impact of the sale of VOWST raises concerns about the company's financial viability and projected cash runway.
FAQ
What recent financial milestone did Seres Therapeutics announce?
Seres Therapeutics announced a $50 million installment payment related to the sale of its VOWST business to Nestlé Health Science.
How will the recent payment impact Seres' financial operations?
This payment extends the company's cash runway into the first quarter of 2026, allowing them to fund ongoing operations.
What is SER-155 and its significance for Seres Therapeutics?
SER-155 is a live biotherapeutic that has shown promise in reducing bloodstream infections in clinical studies.
What was the VOWST product and its importance to Seres?
VOWST was the first FDA-approved orally administered microbiome therapeutic, developed by Seres and sold to Nestlé Health Science.
What challenges does Seres Therapeutics face moving forward?
Seres faces risks such as high operating losses, reliance on third-party manufacturers, and uncertainty in receiving future installment payments.
Disclaimer: This is an AI-generated summary of a press release distributed by GlobeNewswire. The model used to summarize this release may make mistakes. See the full release here.
$MCRB Insider Trading Activity
$MCRB insiders have traded $MCRB stock on the open market 17 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 17 have been sales.
Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $MCRB stock by insiders over the last 6 months:
- TERESA L. YOUNG (See Remarks) has made 0 purchases and 4 sales selling 28,926 shares for an estimated $29,601.
- ERIC D. SHAFF (CEO and President) has made 0 purchases and 3 sales selling 13,771 shares for an estimated $9,507.
- MOLTKE LISA VON (See Remarks) has made 0 purchases and 3 sales selling 6,284 shares for an estimated $4,336.
- THOMAS DESROSIER (Chief Legal Officer and EVP) has made 0 purchases and 3 sales selling 6,010 shares for an estimated $4,147.
- MATTHEW R. HENN (See Remarks) has made 0 purchases and 3 sales selling 5,834 shares for an estimated $4,025.
- DAVID S. EGE (See Remarks) sold 1,128 shares for an estimated $947
To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.
$MCRB Hedge Fund Activity
We have seen 23 institutional investors add shares of $MCRB stock to their portfolio, and 52 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.
Here are some of the largest recent moves:
- TANG CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC removed 2,207,112 shares (-91.7%) from their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $2,088,148
- HUDSON BAY CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP removed 1,004,978 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $950,809
- MILLENNIUM MANAGEMENT LLC removed 755,644 shares (-42.5%) from their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $714,914
- JANE STREET GROUP, LLC removed 686,203 shares (-97.0%) from their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $649,216
- GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC removed 652,283 shares (-97.8%) from their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $617,124
- MORGAN STANLEY added 631,239 shares (+369.0%) to their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $597,215
- NORTHERN TRUST CORP removed 503,536 shares (-69.8%) from their portfolio in Q3 2024, for an estimated $476,395
To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.
Full Release
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seres Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MCRB) (Seres or the Company), a leading live biotherapeutics company, announced today the receipt of a $50 million installment payment related to the Company’s previously announced sale of its VOWST business to Société des Produits Nestlé S.A (SPN, and with certain of its affiliates, collectively, Nestlé Health Science). This installment payment was expected as Seres is fulfilling its transition obligations.
As previously announced, based on the Company’s existing cash, inclusive of this payment, a projected installment payment from Nestlé Health Science in July 2025 of $25 million (less up to approximately $1.5M in employment-related payments to Nestlé Health Science), transaction-related obligations and current operating plans, the Company expects to fund operations into the first quarter of 2026.
About Seres Therapeutics
Seres Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MCRB) is a clinical-stage company focused on improving patient outcomes in medically vulnerable populations through novel live biotherapeutics. Seres led the successful development and approval of VOWST™, the first FDA-approved orally administered microbiome therapeutic, which was sold to Nestlé Health Science in September 2024. The Company is developing SER-155, which has received both Breakthrough Therapy and Fast Track designation, and which has demonstrated a significant reduction in bloodstream infections and related complications (as compared to placebo) in a Phase 1b clinical study in patients undergoing allo-HSCT. SER-155 and the Company's other pipeline programs are designed to target multiple disease-relevant pathways and are manufactured from standard clonal cell banks via cultivation, rather than from the donor-sourced production process used for VOWST. In addition to allo-HSCT, the Company intends to evaluate SER-155 and other cultivated live biotherapeutic candidates in other medically vulnerable patient populations including autologous-HSCT patients, cancer patients with neutropenia, CAR-T recipients, individuals with chronic liver disease, solid organ transplant recipients, as well as patients in the intensive care unit and long-term acute care facilities. For more information, please visit
www.serestherapeutics.com
.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including statements about our anticipated financial performance, the receipt of an additional installment payment, projected cash runway, and other statements which are not historical fact.
These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: (1) we have incurred significant losses, are not currently profitable and may never become profitable; (2) our need for additional funding; (3) our history of operating losses; (4) our novel approach to therapeutic intervention; (5) our reliance on third parties to conduct our clinical trials and manufacture our product candidates; (6) the competition we will face; (7) our ability to protect our intellectual property; (8) our ability to retain key personnel and to manage our growth; (9) the effect of the VOWST sale on our ability to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with our customers, suppliers, advertisers, partners and others with whom we do business, or on our operating results and businesses generally; (10) the risks associated with the disruption of management’s attention from ongoing business operations due to the obligation to provide transition services; (11) our failure to receive the installment payments or the milestone payments in the future; (12) the uncertainty of impact of the 50/50 profit and loss sharing arrangement on our reported results and liquidity; and (13) we may not be able to realize the anticipated benefits of the VOWST sale. These and other important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on November 13, 2024, and our other reports filed with the SEC could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
Investor and Media Contacts:
[email protected]
Carlo Tanzi, Ph.D.
Kendall Investor Relations
[email protected]