The SER-287 and SER-301 clinical and drug pharmacology data sets obtained to date provide a robust set of insights into the role of the microbiome in UC, and Seres continues to conduct analyses of data from our SER-287 and SER-301 programs to inform next steps for further development.
Appointment of Executive Vice President, Chief People Officer: In February 2022, Seres announced that Paula Cloghessy joined Seres, bringing more than 20 years of human resources expertise with broad business experience. She most recently served as Chief People Officer at Translate Bio, Inc., where she led the talent architecture and people strategy. She previously served as vice president of human resources at Joule Unlimited Technologies, Inc. She has also held human resources positions at Interleukin Genetics, Inc. and NUCRYST Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Financial Results
Seres reported a net loss of $65.6 million for the full year of 2021, as compared to a net loss of $89.1 million for the prior year. Seres reported a net loss of $50.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, as compared to a net loss of $18.3 million for the same period in 2020.
Research and development expenses for the fourth quarter of 2021 were $36.8 million, as compared to $24.9 million for the same period in 2020. The research and development expenses were primarily related to Seres’ late-stage SER-109 clinical development program and manufacturing costs, as well as personnel expenses.
General and administrative expenses for the fourth quarter were $20.5 million, as compared to $10.6 million for the same period in the prior year. General and administrative expenses were primarily related to personnel expenses, professional fees, including SER-109 commercial readiness and pre-launch expenses, and facility costs.
Seres amended its debt financing agreement with Hercules Capital in February 2022, providing the Company with an additional $50 million in capital, for up to $100 million in total. Upon closing, Hercules advanced $50 million to the Company under the facility, of which $22.1 million was previously outstanding, resulting in proceeds of $27.6 million, net of fees and expenses. The Company will make interest only payments through December 31, 2023, extendable to December 31, 2024 with SER-109 approval. There are two subsequent tranches of $25 million each, one of which becomes available to the Company upon the FDA’s approval of the BLA for SER-109 by December 15, 2023 and the second of which becomes available upon the satisfaction of certain conditions, including Hercules’ investment committee approval.
Seres ended the 2021 year with approximately $291.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and short and long-term investments as compared with approximately $353.2 million at the end of the third quarter 2021.