--- title: "Mereo BioPharma reports $80.5 million cash" url: "https://aibio.space/news/mereo-biopharma-reports-80-5-million-cash-says-funds-operations-2027/" publisher: "aibio.space (Biotech Investor Relations News)" date: "2024-11-12" section: "Financings" tickers: "NASDAQ:MREO" source: "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1719714/000095017024124598/mreo-ex99_1.htm" summary: "The balance includes net proceeds of a $50 million registered direct offering priced June 14, 2024. Third-quarter net loss was $15.0 million." --- By the aibio.space news desk. Sources - [Mereo BioPharma Group plc 8-K (2024-11-12)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1719714/000095017024124598/mreo-ex99_1.htm) [MREO](https://aibio.space/companies/mereo-biopharma/) 2024-11-12 # Mereo BioPharma reports $80.5 million cash, says it funds operations into 2027 Tickers [MREO](https://aibio.space/companies/mereo-biopharma/) The balance includes net proceeds of a $50 million registered direct offering priced June 14, 2024. Third-quarter net loss was $15.0 million. ## Key facts - **Company**: Mereo BioPharma Group plc (NASDAQ: MREO) - **News type**: Financings - **Primary source**: [Mereo BioPharma Group plc 8-K (2024-11-12)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1719714/000095017024124598/mreo-ex99_1.htm) *A city skyline in morning haze. CC0, via rawpixel. The picture shows the field, not the companies named.* Mereo BioPharma Group plc reported cash and cash equivalents of $80.5 million at September 30, 2024, up from $57.4 million at December 31, 2023. The figures came in third-quarter results released November 12, 2024. The balance includes net proceeds of a $50 million underwritten registered direct offering priced at-the-market on June 14, 2024. The release does not name the underwriters, placement agent or counsel for that offering. ## What the cash has to cover Mereo says that, on current operating plans, its cash will fund its committed clinical trials, operating expenses including pre-commercial activities for setrusumab, and capital expenditure into 2027. That guidance excludes any upfront payment from a partnership for alvelestat and any business development around non-core programs. The release gives no size for either item. The balance sheet also shows convertible loan notes as a current liability of $5,551 thousand at September 30, 2024. At December 31, 2023 they were non-current, at $4,394 thousand. The release does not describe the notes' terms or maturity. ## The loss The third-quarter net loss was $15.0 million, against $6.5 million a year earlier. The $9.2 million increase was driven mainly by a net foreign exchange loss of $6.4 million, against a gain of $2.5 million in the third quarter of 2023. Mereo attributes that to a weaker U.S. dollar when dollar balances are translated into its pound sterling functional currency. Research and development expense fell to $3.2 million from $3.6 million, with lower spending on etigilimab and alvelestat partly offset by setrusumab. General and administrative expense rose to $6.2 million from $5.7 million, including $0.2 million of higher pre-commercial activity in Europe. The release says Ultragenyx funds the global setrusumab development program under their license and collaboration agreement. For the nine months, the net loss was $36,207 thousand, against $20,357 thousand a year earlier, with no revenue in 2024 and $9,000 thousand in the 2023 period. The accumulated deficit was $455,837 thousand at September 30, 2024. At that date Mereo had 773,672,299 ordinary shares issued, equal to 154,734,459 ADS equivalents. Each ADS represents five ordinary shares. ## Setrusumab and the partner Mereo's partner, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc., received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA for setrusumab, also called UX143, to reduce the risk of fracture in osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) Types I, III and IV in patients 2 years of age and older. The release says the FDA based that decision on preliminary clinical evidence, including 14-month results from the Phase 2 portion of the Orbit study and the completed Phase 2b ASTEROID study. Those 14-month data were presented at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research meeting in 2024. The Phase 3 Orbit and Cosmic studies are ongoing, led by Ultragenyx. Mereo's chief executive, Denise Scots-Knight, said the program "continues to progress according to plan" and that topline data are expected during 2025. A pivotal Phase 2/3 pediatric study in young adults aged 5 to 25 has completed enrollment in its Phase 3 portion. Breakthrough designation and PRIME are regulatory designations, not approvals, and the release gives no approval timetable. ## Alvelestat and leflutrozole Alvelestat is aimed at lung disease associated with severe alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. After FDA feedback on the Phase 3 package, including the study protocol and initial validation work on the SGRQ questionnaire, Mereo expects alvelestat to be Phase 3 ready around the end of 2024. That means the Phase 3 study has not started. Mereo says it is in discussions with several potential partners, but the release names none and gives no deal terms. Mereo has also granted an exclusive global license for leflutrozole, a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor, to ReproNovo SA. ReproNovo is responsible for all future development and commercialization of that drug. ## What the filing leaves open The release gives no fee, underwriter, placement agent or counsel for the June offering. It gives no terms for the convertible loan notes, no size for the alvelestat partnership upfront and no cash-burn figure for the next year. It also does not say how much of the $80.5 million is held in U.S. dollars, a currency whose movement drove the quarter's loss. [Report an error](https://aibio.space/reputation/#correction) ## Companies in this story MREO Mereo BioPharma Group plc NASDAQ ยท United Kingdom Open the starter desk ## More in Financings Financings ### [INmune Bio raises $4.50 million in registered direct offering with warrants](https://aibio.space/news/inmune-bio-raises-4-50-million-registered-direct-offering-warrants/) Oct 29, 2026 Financings ### [Lexeo Therapeutics files $300 million shelf registration](https://aibio.space/news/lexeo-therapeutics-files-300-million-shelf-registration/) Oct 29, 2026 Financings ### [ProKidney files $650 million shelf with $200 million Jefferies sales program](https://aibio.space/news/prokidney-files-650-million-shelf-200-million-jefferies-sales-program/) Oct 29, 2026 --- Source page: https://aibio.space/news/mereo-biopharma-reports-80-5-million-cash-says-funds-operations-2027/. Facts in aibio.space stories are checked against company filings and releases; opinion is labelled. Cite as: aibio.space, "Mereo BioPharma reports $80.5 million cash", 2024-11-12, https://aibio.space/news/mereo-biopharma-reports-80-5-million-cash-says-funds-operations-2027/