DBV Technologies, a French biotech working on a treatment for food allergies, says it’s running out of cash.
The disclosure came via a going concern note in the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 earnings report on Friday, with DBV saying it doesn’t have enough money to keep the lights on for a full 12 months. DBV says it has until the very end of the year based on the $141.4 million in cash reported as of the end of December 2023.
To persevere, the biotech will look to raise more money via debt and equity offerings. DBV’s cash reserves fell by nearly $68 million in 2023, with most of the money going toward R&D.
Much of the biotech’s focus centers on lead peanut allergy treatment DBV712, with two phase 3 safety trials ongoing in kids. The goal is to complete enrollment in two supplemental six-month safety trials this year, despite experiencing delays that were attributed to new clinical trial rules in Europe.
“We expect good momentum regarding Vitesse recruitment in the next several months and last subject screened by Q3 2024,” DBV CEO Daniel Tassé said in a release. The late-stage development work makes DBV’s current cash crunch all the more perilous, given how close the company potentially is to the market.
In addition to wrapping up enrollment in the two COMFORT trials, DBV expects to have three-year data from an efficacy trial in toddlers 1-3 years old. A sibling trial for kids 4-7 years old is slated to screen its last patient by the third quarter of 2024. That study, named VITESSE, was previously on an FDA partial hold while the company and regulators worked on an updated trial protocol.
Should DBV strengthen its balance sheet, there are two additional phase 2 trials waiting in the wings for runner-up med DBV135, which is in development for milk allergies and eosinophilic esophagitis.