SAN DIEGO, June 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Organovo Holdings, Inc. (NYSE MKT: ONVO) ("Organovo"), a three-dimensional biology company focused on delivering breakthrough 3D bioprinting technology, has reported its financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.  The Company also reported on its corporate highlights during fiscal 2014.

FY 2014 Corporate Highlights:

• Expanded independent Board membership with the addition of Tamar D. Howson and  Richard  A. Heyman, Ph.D.;
• Common stock was approved to list on the NYSE MKT and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange MKT on July 11 , 2013;
• Raised $46.6 Million via a fully underwritten public offering of Common Stock, in which Lazard Capital Markets LLC and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acted as joint book-runners for the offering;
• Presented data demonstrating retention of key liver functions in bioprinted tissues for up to 40 days, and demonstrated that Organovo's 3D liver tissues exhibit dose-dependent responses to known liver toxicants, and that the toxic effects can be assessed using both standard screening assays and histopathological assessment of the treated tissue;
• Performed its first 3D Liver tissue delivery, marking the delivery of Organovo's 3D Liver tissue to a laboratory outside of the company to a key opinion leader (KOL) for experimentation;
• Initiated contracting for toxicity testing using its 3D Human Liver Tissue for selected clients prior to full release;
• Announced collaboration with the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the National Eye Institute (NEI) to help scientists develop more reliable tools for bringing safer, more effective treatments to patients on a faster timeline;
• Doubled office and laboratory space to 30,000 sq. feet to accommodate the capacity requirements of recent partnerships and the near-term commercial product launch;
• Celebrated a profile of the company and the 3D bioprinting space as the cover story in the Economist's Technology Quarterly

"Organovo was able to continue our achievement of strong results in fiscal 2014," stated Keith Murphy, chief executive officer of Organovo.  "We demonstrated the viability and utility of our 3D liver tissues and breast tumor disease model, expanded our partnerships, uplisted our common stock to the NYSE MKT, raised significant financing, and saw tremendous scientific results from our bioprinting efforts in a variety of tissue types.  We will continue to focus in fiscal 2015 on executing our business plan and on striving to deliver long-term shareholder value."

Financial Results:

Comparison of the years ended March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2012

Revenues

Revenues of $0.4 million for the year ended March 31, 2014 decreased approximately $0.8 million, or 67%, over revenues of $1.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2012.  This decrease reflects the completion or declining activity under two collaborative research agreements since 2012, partially offset by increasing revenue contributions from three new collaborative research agreements.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses increased approximately $10.5 million, or 100%, from $10.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 to $21.0 million for the year ended March 31, 2014. Of this increase, $5.9 million is related to increased selling, general and administrative expense, while the other $4.6 million relates to increased investment in research and development expense. Those increases are attributed to the Company's continued implementation of its business plan, including hiring additional staff to support its research and development initiatives, incremental investment associated with  commercialization project initiatives, expenses related to operating as a publicly traded corporation, expansion to a larger facility, and increased stock compensation expense relative to employees and certain consulting services.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expense increased $4.6 million, or 135%, from approximately $3.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 to approximately $8.0 million for the year ended March 31, 2014 as the Company significantly increased its research staff to support its obligations under certain collaborative research agreements and grants, and to expand product development efforts in preparation for commercial revenues. Full-time research and development staffing increased from nineteen full-time employees as of December 31, 2012 to thirty-two full-time employees as of March 31, 2014. In addition to the incremental payroll, benefits and stock-based compensation resulting from increased staffing levels, the Company increased its facility space to accommodate its growing research staff, and increased its spending on lab equipment and supplies in proportion to its increased research activities.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased approximately $5.9 million, or 83%, from $7.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2012 to $13.0 million for the year ended March 31, 2014. Increased staffing expenses of approximately $1.5 million was due to the headcount increase from ten full-time employees as of December 31, 2012 to thirteen full-time employees as of March 31, 2014, to provide strategic infrastructure in developing collaborative relationships and preparing for commercialization of products and services, and to address the additional compliance requirements of operating as a publicly traded corporation. In addition, the year ended March 31, 2014 includes $1.2 million more in payroll taxes related to the vesting of restricted stock units the Company previously granted to certain of its executives.  Stock-based compensation costs also increased approximately $2.9 million due to additional grants to employees and consultants as well as an overall increase in the Company's stock price.  The remainder of the increase is primarily due to non-recurring external fees and expenses incurred during the year ended March 31, 2014 related to the Company's up-listing to the NYSE MKT and its completion of a secondary public offering during the year.

Other Income (Expense)

The $29.0 million decrease in other expenses as compared to the year ended December 31, 2012 was primarily due to the inclusion of one-time non-cash transaction costs associated with the Merger and 2012 Private Placements in other expense during 2012, including approximately $19.0 million of expense for the excess of the fair value of warrant liabilities over proceeds received, $2.1 million of financing costs in excess of proceeds received and $1.0 million in interest expense from the accretion of debt discount and amortization of deferred financing costs related to the 2011 Private Placement, the Merger and the 2012 Private Placement. In addition, $1.9 million of expense was recorded in 2012 for the loss on inducement to exercise warrants under a tender offer completed during the year.  Finally, non-cash expense related to the change in fair value of warrant liabilities decreased by approximately $4.8 million, due to fewer warrants outstanding as of March 31, 2014.

Various factors are considered in the pricing models we use to value the warrants, including the Company's current stock price, the remaining life of the warrants, the volatility of the Company's stock price, and the risk free interest rate. Future changes in these factors may have a significant impact on the computed fair value of the warrant liability. As such, we expect future changes in the fair value of the warrants to continue to vary significantly from quarter to quarter.

Financial Condition, Liquidity and Capital Resources

At March 31, 2014, we had total current assets of $49.2 million and current liabilities of $1.9 million, resulting in working capital of $47.3 million. At March 31, 2013, we had total current assets of $16.1 million and current liabilities of $8.4 million, resulting in working capital of $7.7 million.  At December 31, 2012, we had total current assets of $15.9 million and current liabilities of $22.0 million, resulting in a working capital deficit of $6.1 million.

Net cash used in investing activities was approximately $0.3 million, $0.2 million, less than $0.1million, $0.4 million, and $0.1 million for the year ended March 31, 2014, the three months ended March 31, 2013 and March 31, 2012, and the years ended December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively. The majority of net cash used in investing activities from inception to date has been for the purchases of equipment for the research lab.

Net cash provided by financing activities was approximately $48.4 million, $3.7 million, $13.6 million, $24.6 million and $2.1 million for the year ended March 31, 2014, the three months ended March 31, 2013 and March 31, 2012, and the years ended December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.

During the year ended March 31, 2014, we raised net proceeds of approximately $43.4 million through the sale of 10,350,000 shares of our common stock in a public offering. In addition, we raised net proceeds of approximately $3.5 million from an at-the-market follow-on offering, $1.0 million from the exercise of warrants, and $0.4 million from stock option exercises during the year ended March 31, 2014.

About Organovo Holdings, Inc. 
Organovo designs and creates functional, three-dimensional human tissues for medical research and therapeutic applications. The Company is collaborating with pharmaceutical and academic partners to develop human biological disease models in three dimensions. These 3D human tissues have the potential to accelerate the drug discovery process, enabling treatments to be developed faster and at lower cost. In addition to numerous scientific publications, the Company's technology has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The Economist, and numerous others. Organovo is changing the shape of medical research and practice. Learn more at www.organovo.com

Safe Harbor Statement

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's ability to develop, market and sell products based on its technology; the expected benefits and efficacy of the Company's products and technology; the market acceptance of the Company's products; and the Company's business, research, product development, regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans and strategies. These and other factors are identified and described in more detail in our filings with the SEC, including our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on June 10, 2014 as well as our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date that they were made. These cautionary statements should be considered with any written or oral forward-looking statements that we may issue in the future. Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to reflect actual results, later events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE Organovo Holdings, Inc.