Cardax Inc.’s losses keep mounting as the Hawaii-based biotech firm pushes forward on developing nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products that would provide many of the anti-inflammatory benefits of steroids.
The company’s third-quarter loss widened to $1.9 million from $1.4 million in the year-earlier period, according to a recent filing it made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Through nine months the company has lost $15.2 million.
Operating expenses last quarter jumped 69 percent to $1.9 million from $1.1 million.
Cardax, headed by Chief Executive Officer David Watumull, still doesn’t have any revenue as it continues its developmental phase.
Since its inception in 2006, it has funded its operations by issuing securities. The company reported it had $733,319 in cash at the end of the quarter and said that the amount would be sufficient to continue operations through the end of the year.
"We intend to raise additional capital that would fund our operations through Dec. 31, 2015," Cardax said in its filing. "We are currently negotiating the terms of additional financing with investors and are considering a private placement of our common stock and warrants to purchase common stock. Any financing transaction could also … include the issuance of our debt or convertible debt securities. There can be no assurance that a financing transaction would be available to us on terms and conditions that we determined are acceptable. We cannot give any assurance that we will in the future be able to achieve a level of profitability from the sale of future products or otherwise to sustain our operations."
In August, Cardax signed an agreement with Morristown, N.J.-based Capsugel for the joint commercial development of astaxanthin products for the consumer health market that contain nature-identical synthetic astaxanthin with pharmaceutical-grade purity.
Astaxanthin is most commonly used as an antioxidant and may help cut the risks of certain chronic diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
The goal of the products using Capsugel’s formulation technology is to improve the degree and rate that the products are absorbed in the body compared with other astaxanthin products on the market. Capsugel will share revenue with Cardax based on net sales of products that are developed under the collaboration.
The company went public in February after completing a reverse merger with Houston-based Koffee Korner Inc. The reverse merger used by Cardax was a simpler way of taking a company public than with a standard initial public offering because Koffee Korner already had met shareholder requirements for publicly traded companies.
Cardax’s shares rose 4 cents to 39 cents Friday on the over-the-counter market.
