Cellectis: 2012 financial results

Regulatory News:

Cellectis (Paris:ALCLS) (Alternext: ALCLS), the global genome engineering specialist, presented its consolidated financial statements for the 2012 fiscal year, approved for publication by the Board of Directors at their meeting today.

Financial results for fiscal year 2012

Cellectis’ operating performance showed:

• increase in revenue generated by new products and services,
• strict control of operating costs,
• strengthening of the Group’s equity position.
• Operating revenue was €21 million, up 32% from €16 million in 2011.
  
  Despite a challenging economic climate worldwide, revenue rose to €11.3 million from €9.9 million the previous year. This increase was driven by promising developments for the Group’s "Tools and Services” and "Plants” offerings: sales of the TALEN^TM range and of the cell lines marketed by the "Tools and Services” and "Plants” businesses made gains. Only non-recurring revenue items, corresponding to sales of Cellectis SA licenses, were down compared to 2011.

• Operating expenses were successfully kept in check, rising 15% to €40.8 million. This limited increase demonstrates the effectiveness of the cost-control strategy pursued by Cellectis, alongside the reinforcement of its sales and marketing resources.
• The Group posted an operating loss of €19.8 million, in line with forecasts.
• A €1.5 million (6.3%) improvement in net performance versus 2011.
• The year saw a net use of cash of €20.6 million, also in line with forecasts.
• As of December 31, 2012, the Group’s net cash position was €21.8 million, a level deemed sufficient to allow Cellectis to reach the break-even point and to begin generating positive cash flow by 2014 as anticipated.
• The Group’s equity position was strengthened significantly, surging from €28.6 million to €61.8 million, following the conversion into shares of the ORA bonds issued in 2011.

Key highlights of 2012: reorganization of core businesses to support sustainable growth

A true pioneer in the industrial applications of genome engineering at its founding in 1999, in 2006 Cellectis successfully responded to a new demand for products incorporating scientific advances at the leading edge of DNA programming innovation.

Cellectis’ business is focusing in on therapeutic solutions. So as to provide greater efficiency in its operations, the Group reinforced its sales resources and successfully completed a major simplification of its operating structure.

Lastly, as part of its growth strategy in 2012, the Group decided to make a significant shift in its R&D activity towards the challenges posed by synthetic biology and an emerging demand for regenerative medicine products and services.

• A new organization closer to markets and demand

Controlled by Cellectis SA, a holding company with executive management responsibilities, the Group is now organized around three business lines:

• Cellectis therapeutics, whose objective is to bring innovative products to the market. In the first half of 2012, Dr Mathieu Simon was named President of Cellectis therapeutics and will be responsible for realizing this ambition;
• Cellectis bioresearch, whose mission is to develop and market the Group’s "Tools and Services” offering;
• Cellectis plant sciences, which, apart from its agro-industrial specialization, now coordinates the investments that the Group may pursue in other areas of industrial biotechnology.

• Concentrating resources on projects with strong potential

Over the 2012 fiscal year, Cellectis concentrated its activities on a limited number of high-potential programs.

• Therapeutics: a driving force for growth

In 2012, Cellectis achieved significant results in two growth areas:

• Regenerative medicine: generated pancreatic cells from engineered stem cells and strengthened partnership with Novo Nordisk, the global leader in diabetes treatments.
• Cancer immunotherapy (T-cells): in partnership with University College London (UCL), proof-of-concept of engineered T-cells’ ability to eliminate cancer cells.

André Choulika, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cellectis Group, said, "This therapeutic focus strengthens the growth prospects of the Group, which is simultaneously pursuing other promising partnerships.”

About Cellectis

Founded in France in 1999, the Cellectis Group runs on highly specific DNA engineering technologies. Its application sectors are human health, agriculture and bio-energies. Co-initiated by André Choulika, its Chairman and CEO, Cellectis is now one of the world’s leading companies in the field of genome engineering, with revenue of €21 million in 2012. Leading the field of pluripotent stem cells, Cellectis has developed expertise in drug discovery, the study of drug toxicity and regenerative medicine. Cellectis has a solid background in the large-scale handling of stem cells up until their maturation and differentiation into functional cell types. Cellectis has a workforce of 230 employees working at 5 sites worldwide: Paris & Evry in France, Gothenburg in Sweden, New Brighton (Minnesota) & Cambridge (Massachusetts) in the United States.

The Group has signed more than 100 industry agreements with pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and biotechnology companies. University College London (UCL), the National Institute of Health (NIH), Novo Nordisk, the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) of Kyoto University, AFM, Novartis, BASF, Bayer and Limagrain are some of the Group’s clients and partners. Since 2007, Cellectis has been listed on the NYSE Euronext Alternext market (code: ALCLS) in Paris.

For more information, visit our website: www.cellectis.com.

Disclaimer

This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe, for shares in Cellectis in any country. This press release contains forward-looking statements that relate to the Company’s objectives based on the current expectations and assumptions of the Company’s management only and involve risk and uncertainties that could cause the Company to fail to achieve the objectives expressed by the forward-looking statements above.