aibioSpruce Biosciences delays annual report and flags going-concern doubt
Tickers SPRB
Spruce expects cash to be insufficient to fund research and development for at least 12 months without new financing. It expects collaboration revenue to fall about 50%.
Key facts
- Company
- Spruce Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRB)
- News type
- Distress
- Primary source
- Spruce Biosciences, Inc. NT 10-K (2025-03-31)
Spruce Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRB) said on March 31, 2025 that it could not file its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 by that day's deadline.
The South San Francisco company filed a Form 12b-25 late-filing notice. It cited a delay in completing certain required disclosures in the report. Spruce said it expects to file as soon as practicable and no later than the fifteenth calendar day after the due date, as Rule 12b-25 allows.
The notice also gave a preview of 2024 results. Spruce expects a decrease of approximately 50% in collaboration revenue under its license agreement with Kaken Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. It expects lower operating and research and development expenses and a high single-digit percentage increase in loss from operations. Its cash balance materially decreased year over year.
Spruce said that absent additional financing or proceeds from other monetization transactions before it files the report, it expects its cash and cash equivalents will be insufficient to fund its research and development operations for at least 12 months from the filing date. It expects there is "substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern."
Spruce said management's review is ongoing and the figures could change when the annual report is filed. The notice's cautionary language also refers to "the expected impacts of the restatements described above," though the notice gives no detail on any restatement.