ProQR reports $59.2 million June financing and €117.1 million cash

The June financing

ProQR Therapeutics N.V. (Nasdaq: PRQR) reported second quarter 2026 results on August 13, 2026, in an exhibit to a Form 6-K. The release says the company closed an underwritten registered direct offering in June for $50.0 million. A concurrent private placement to Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly), which the release calls an existing shareholder and strategic partner, added $9.2 million. Total gross proceeds were approximately $59.2 million.

The release gives the share counts: 27,624,310 ordinary shares in the offering and 5,100,780 shares to Lilly.

Banks and advisers

The release calls the $50.0 million offering underwritten but does not name the underwriter, placement agent or any financial adviser. The release does not name a law firm for the transaction either. Lilly is named as the buyer in the private placement, not as an agent or adviser.

Cash and runway

At June 30, 2026, ProQR held cash and cash equivalents of approximately €117.1 million, up from €92.4 million at December 31, 2025. The six-month cash flow statement shows proceeds from issuance of shares, net, of €49,201 thousand, and net cash used in operating activities of €23,415 thousand over the same six months.

The company says the financing supports runway into mid-2028. The release lists that runway among its forward-looking statements, and it does not give the cash-burn forecast behind the date.

Quarterly results

Net cash used in operating activities in the second quarter was €12.3 million, against €11.4 million a year earlier. Research and development costs were €12.7 million, against €11.4 million, and general and administrative costs were €4.9 million, against €4.8 million. The net loss was €8.7 million, or €0.08 per diluted share, against €12.2 million, or €0.12 per share, a year earlier.

The smaller loss per share partly reflects a larger share count. Weighted average shares outstanding were 109,958,613 in the quarter, up from 105,343,897. Spending and cash use both rose over the same period, so the per-share improvement does not mean lower costs.

The pipeline claims

The release headlines "first clinical validation" of Axiomer RNA editing through NTCP modulation, and cites "positive AX-0810 clinical target engagement data". The data come from a Phase 1 study in healthy volunteers, so they show a biomarker effect, not benefit to patients. The release reports an increase of up to 8-fold in total serum bile acids at 6 mg/kg, which it says exceeds the company's pre-defined 2-fold threshold for meaningful NTCP modulation. It also reports dose-dependent changes in conjugated bile acids, no serious adverse events or pruritus to date, and a half-life of eight weeks. The full Phase 1 dataset, including Cohort 3, is to be presented at a medical or scientific conference later this year.

In July the company submitted a Clinical Trial Application to the European Medicines Agency for a Phase 1 trial of AX-0811, its next-generation editing oligonucleotide targeting NTCP. The company says initial AX-0811 data are expected by year-end 2026, "pending CTA authorization". It is also preparing an investigator-initiated trial in pediatric biliary atresia in China, with initial clinical data expected in the first half of 2027. The release mentions continuing the Lilly collaboration, with potential data updates and milestone payments.

What comes next

The next milestones are the full AX-0810 dataset later this year, the AX-0811 first-in-human data by year-end, and the China trial data in the first half of 2027. The company says a potentially registration-enabling Phase 2 program, subject to regulatory interactions, is expected to start in mid-2027. The mid-2028 runway is the company's own estimate.

Report an error

Companies in this story

PRQRProQR Therapeutics N.V.NASDAQ · NetherlandsOpen the starter desk