ROCKVILLE - MaxCyte, Inc., (NASDAQ: MXCT; LSE: MXCT), a leading, cell-engineering focused company providing enabling platform technologies to advance the discovery, development, and commercialization of next-generation cell therapeutics and to support innovative, cell-based research, today announced its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2022, financial results and provided initial 2023 revenue guidance.
Fourth Quarter and Full Year Highlights
Total revenue of $12.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase of 22% over the fourth quarter of 2021.
Core business revenues grew 4% in the fourth quarter of 2022, with revenue growth from cell therapy customers growing 4% and revenue from drug discovery customers growing by 5%, over the fourth quarter of 2021.
Total revenue of $44.3 million for the full year 2022, an increase of 31% over the full year 2021.
Full year 2022 core business revenues grew 26%, led by cell therapy revenue growth of 33%, and revenue from drug discovery growing 8%.
Initial 2023 guidance for total revenue growth of 21% to 26% over 2022, including core revenue growth of 20% to 25% over 2022, and Strategic Platform License (SPL) program-related revenue of approximately $6 million.
Total cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $227.3 million as of December 31, 2022.
'We are pleased with our strong progress and performance in 2022 and look forward to continuing this positive momentum into 2023. Over the course of the year, we have made significant investments in our people, manufacturing capacity, and R&D infrastructure, which positions us well for our next stage of growth,' said Doug Doerfler, President and CEO of MaxCyte.
'Our portfolio of partnerships continued to grow throughout 2022, having announced three new SPL partnerships as well as the recent addition of Catamaran Bio as a partner in early 2023. We also entered into a partnership with Vertex following the transfer of the exa-cel program from CRISPR. The partnership maintains our role in this program, for which Vertex is currently seeking regulatory marketing approval in the United States and Europe for Sickle Cell Disease and Beta-Thalassemia. We are continuing to see our partners make strong progress across their clinical programs and are focused on providing them with the in-house manufacturing and regulatory support that they will require as they move towards commercialization. Our partnership pipeline remains robust and growing as we begin 2023 and we are excited to see our partners achieve upcoming milestones and move the cell therapy industry forward.'
Operational Highlights
Ended the year with 18 SPL partnerships, with the addition of partnerships with Intima Bioscience, LG Chem, and Curamys in 2022. With the addition of an SPL partnership with Catamaran Bio in early 2023, the total number of partnerships now stands at 19. Vertex Pharmaceuticals will use MaxCyte's Flow Electroporation technology and ExPERT platform to support the gene-edited hemoglobinopathy cell therapy exa-cel, formerly known under CRISPR as CTX001. We entered into an SPL partnership with Vertex in 2022 for this transferred program. In addition, we retained our partnership with CRISPR therapeutics supporting CRISPR/Cas9-based therapies in immuno-oncology.
As of December 31, 2022, our 18 active SPL partner agreements allowed for over 125 potential programs; 16 of which were active programs currently in the clinic (defined as programs with at least a cleared IND or equivalent). If all potential programs successfully progress through the clinic to commercial approval, we estimate aggregate potential to generate pre-commercial milestone payments to us of over $1.55 billion in addition to sales-based commercial revenue due to us under existing agreements. At the end of 2021, there were 15 SPL partnerships covering over 95 programs with total potential pre-commercial milestones exceeding $1.25 billion.
As of December 31, 2022, we had over 600 instruments placed with customers, compared to over 500 instruments at the end of 2021.
Launched the ExPERT branded VLx, our large-scale Flow Electroporation platform.
Completed and occupied our new, 67,000 square foot, state of the art headquarters in Maryland's I-270 biotech corridor, significantly increasing our in-house manufacturing capacity, as well as research and process development lab space.
Appointed Patrick J. Balthrop, Sr. to our board of directors as a non-executive member. Mr. Balthrop will also serve on the nominating and corporate governance committees of our board of directors.
Fourth Quarter 2022 Financial Results
Total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $12.4 million, compared to $10.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, representing growth of 22%.
Core business revenue (instruments and disposables to cell therapy and drug discovery customers and excluding program-related revenue) was $10.6 million in 2022, compared to core business revenue of $10.1 million in 2021, representing growth of 4%, including 4% revenue growth from cell therapy customers and 5% revenue growth from drug discovery customers.
Our SPL program-related revenue was $1.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 as compared to immaterial SPL program-related revenue in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $10.9 million (88% gross margin), compared to $8.9 million (88% gross margin) in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2022 were $17.6 million, compared to operating expenses of $13.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. The overall increase in operating expenses was primarily driven by increases in R&D, sales, and marketing headcount and occupancy expenses related to our new corporate headquarters.
Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $4.8 million compared to net loss of $4.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, was a loss of $5.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to a loss of $4.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2021; stock-based compensation expense was $3.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $2.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Full Year 2022 Financial Results
Total revenue for 2022 was $44.3 million, compared to $33.9 million in 2021, representing growth of 31%.
Core business revenue for 2022 was $39.6 million, compared to $31.4 million for 2021, representing growth of 26%, including 33% revenue growth from cell therapy customers and 8% revenue growth from drug discovery customers.
Our SPL program-related revenue for 2022 was $4.6 million, compared to $2.5 million in SPL program-related revenue in 2021, representing growth of 83% in 2022.
Gross profit for 2022 was $39.2 million (88% gross margin), compared to $30.2 million (89% gross margin) in the prior year.
Operating expenses for 2022 were $66.5 million, compared to operating expenses of $48.4 million in 2021. The overall increase in operating expenses was principally driven by increases in headcount, occupancy, and public company expenses.
Full year 2022 net loss was $23.6 million compared to a loss of $19.1 million in 2021. Full year 2022 EBITDA was a loss of $24.8 million compared to a loss of $17.4 million in 2021; total stock-based compensation for 2022 was $11.8 million, compared to $8.0 million for 2021.
Total cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $227.3 million as of December 31, 2022, compared to $255.0 million as of December 31, 2021.
2023 Revenue Guidance
Management is providing initial 2023 revenue guidance for total revenue, core business revenue and SPL program-related revenue.
Management expects full year 2023 total revenue growth of between 21% and 26% over 2022 including core business revenue growth of between 20% and 25% over 2022, and SPL program-related revenue of approximately $6 million.
About MaxCyte
MaxCyte is a leading, cell-engineering focused company providing enabling platform technologies to advance the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation cell therapeutics and to support innovative, cell-based research. Over the past 20 years, we have developed and commercialized our proprietary Flow Electroporation technology, which facilitates complex engineering of a wide variety of cells. Our ExPERT platform, which is based on our Flow Electroporation technology, has been designed to support the rapidly expanding cell therapy market and can be utilized across the continuum of the high-growth cell therapy sector, from discovery and development through commercialization of next-generation, cell-based medicines. The ExPERT family of products includes: four instruments, the ATx, STx GTx and VLx; a portfolio of proprietary related processing assemblies or disposables and software protocols, all supported by a robust worldwide intellectual property portfolio.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release contains EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP measure defined as earnings before interest income and expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization. MaxCyte believes that EBITDA provides useful information to management and investors relating to its results of operations. The company's management uses this non-GAAP measure to compare the company's performance to that of prior periods for trend analyses, and for budgeting and planning purposes. The company believes that the use of EBITDA provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing the company's financial measures with other companies, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors, and that it allows for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision-making.
Management does not consider EBITDA in isolation or as an alternative to financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. The principal limitation of EBITDA is that it excludes significant expenses that are required by GAAP to be recorded in the company's financial statements. In order to compensate for these limitations, management presents EBITDA together with GAAP results. Non-GAAP measures should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, GAAP results. A reconciliation table of net loss, the most comparable GAAP financial measure, to EBITDA is included at the end of this release. MaxCyte urges investors to review the reconciliation and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate the company's business.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the 'safe harbor' provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding expected total revenue growth, core business revenue growth and SPL program-related revenue for the year ending December 31, 2023, expansion of and revenue from our SPLs and the progression of our customers' programs into and through clinical trials. The words 'may,' 'might,' 'will,' 'could,' 'would,' 'should,' 'expect,' 'plan,' 'anticipate,' 'intend,' 'believe,' 'expect,' 'estimate,' 'seek,' 'predict,' 'future,' 'project,' 'potential,' 'continue,' 'target' and similar words or expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important factors that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including, without limitation, risks associated with the timing of our customers' ongoing and planned clinical trials; the adequacy of our cash resources and availability of financing on commercially reasonable terms; general market and economic conditions that may impact investor confidence in the biopharmaceutical industry and affect the amount of capital such investors provide to our current and potential partners and demand for our products. These and other risks and uncertainties are described in greater detail in the section entitled 'Risk Factors' in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on or about March 15, 2023, as well as in discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in the other filings that we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. These documents are available under the 'SEC filings' page of the Investors section of our website at http://investors.maxcyte.com. Any forward-looking statements represent our views only as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. We explicitly disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. No representations or warranties (expressed or implied) are made about the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements.
Contact:
David Deuchler
Tel: +1 415-937-5400
Email: ir@maxcyte.com
MAXCYTE, INC. 
