Knight Therapeutics Reports First Quarter 2021 Results

MONTREAL, May 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Knight Therapeutics Inc. (TSX: GUD) (“Knight” or “the Company”), a leading pan-American (ex-US) specialty pharmaceutical company, today reported financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2021. All currency amounts are in thousands except for share and per share amounts. All currencies are Canadian unless otherwise specified.

Q1 2021 Highlights

Financials

• Revenues were $46,069, an increase of $230 or 1% over prior year.
• Gross margin generated of $20,580 or 45% compared to $19,860 or 43% in prior year.
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ was $5,580, an increase of $2,383 or 75% over prior year.
• Interest income generated of $1,998 a decrease of $2,651 or 57% over prior year.
• Net income was $3,558 compared to net loss of $9,477 in prior year.
• Cash inflow from operations was $17,207 compared to cash outflow of $21,167 in prior year.

Corporate Developments

• Promoted Amal Khouri to Chief Business Officer.
• Purchased 3,557,340 common shares through a Normal Course Issuer Bid (“NCIB”) for an average cost of $18,592.

Products        

• Launched Ibsrela™ in Canada for the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation (“IBS-C”).

Strategic Investments

• Disposed of 315,600 common shares of Medexus for total proceeds of $2,624.
• Received distributions of $4,336 from strategic fund investments and realized a gain of $3,031.

Key Subsequent Events

• Entered into a definitive agreement with Novartis to acquire the exclusive rights to manufacture, market and sell Exelon® in Canada and LATAM for an upfront payment of USD 168,000 ($211,260²) and a milestone payment of up to USD 12,000 ($15,090²).
• Shareholders re-elected James C. Gale, Jonathan Ross Goodman, Samira Sakhia, Robert N. Lande, Michael J. Tremblay, Nicolás Sujoy and Janice Murray on the Board of Directors.
• Announced leadership change with Samira Sakhia assuming role of CEO and Jonathan Goodman assuming role of Executive Chairman effective September 1, 2021.
• Purchased 512,271 common shares through its NCIB for an aggregate cost of $2,695.

“We are continuing to execute on multiple fronts. I am excited to report that our key launch brands in Latin America, including Cresemba®, Halaven®, Lenvima®, Trelstar® and Nerlynx® in Canada grew 116% compared to the prior year quarter.   We continue to progress on our integration activities and have commenced implementation of our ERP, CRM and HR and learning management systems. On the business development front, we executed on another transformational transaction with the acquisition of Exelon® from Novartis for Canada and Latin America, said Samira Sakhia, President and Chief Operating Officer of Knight Therapeutics Inc. “I am humbled and honored to be leading talented Knights in Canada and across Latin America as we continue to execute on our strategy of acquiring, in-licensing and developing innovative medicines and high quality treatments for Latin America and Canada.”

¹ Adjusted EBITDA is not defined terms under IFRS, refer to the definitions below for additional details.
²Converted to CAD using the closing foreign exchange rate, actual amount in CAD will vary depending on the exchange rate on the close of the transaction

SELECT FINANCIAL RESULTS & BALANCE SHEET ITEMS

[In thousands of Canadian dollars]

					Change
	Q1-21		Q1-20		$1		%2
Revenues	46,069		45,839		230		1	%
Gross margin	20,580		19,860		720		4	%
Selling and marketing	7,613		10,114		2,501		25	%
General and administrative	7,082		8,418		1,336		16	%
Research and development	2,818		2,749		(69	)	3	%
Amortization of intangible assets	5,302		6,039		737		12	%
Operating loss	(2,235	)	(7,460	)	5,225		70	%
Interest income	(1,998	)	(4,649	)	(2,651	)	57	%
Interest expense	660		1,147		487		42	%
Foreign exchange loss	4,201		4,907		706		14	%
Net income (loss)	3,558		(9,477	)	13,035		N/A
Basic net earnings (loss) per share	0.028		(0.013	)	0.041		N/A
Adjusted EBITDA3	5,580		3,197		2,383		75	%
1 A positive variance represents a positive impact to net income (loss) and a negative variance represents a negative impact to net income (loss)
2 Percentage change is presented in absolute values
3 Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure, refer to section “Non-IFRS measure: EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA” for additional details

			Change
	03-31-21	12-31-20	$		%1
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities	382,381	392,225	(9,844	)	3	%
Trade and other receivables	104,310	116,510	(12,200	)	10	%
Inventory	55,044	56,505	(1,461	)	3	%
Financial assets	193,922	193,955	(33	)	0	%
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	45,693	44,828	865		2	%
Bank loans	38,192	51,770	(13,578	)	26	%
1 Percentage change is presented in absolute values

Revenue: For the quarter ended March 31, 2021, revenues increased by $230 or 1% as a result of an increase in sales from new product launches, partially offset by the depreciation in the LATAM currencies. Excluding the impact of hyperinflation and under constant currency, revenues would have increased by $4,123, which is mainly attributable to the launch of Cresemba®, Lenvima®, Halaven®, Nerlynx® and certain BGx products as well as Trelstar®, which Knight began commercializing in April 2020.

Gross margin: For the quarter ended March 31, 2021, the gross margin increased from 43% to 45% compared to the same period in the prior year due to lower inventory provision and product mix, partially offset by re-negotiation of certain license agreements and the depreciation of the LATAM currencies. The gross margin would have been 47%, an increase of 2%, from 45% after excluding the adjustment of hyperinflation accounting in accordance with IAS 29.

Selling and marketing: The decrease of $2,501 or 25% for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 compared to the same period in the prior year is due to $1,133 of expected credit loss that was recorded in Q1 20 compared to none in Q1 21 and $783 due to the depreciation of the LATAM currencies.

General and administrative: For the quarter ended March 31, 2021, the general and administrative expenses decreased by $1,336 or 16% as compared to the same period in prior year driven by $671 in savings due to restructuring activities and $789 due to the depreciation of the LATAM currencies.

Amortization of intangible assets: For the quarter ended March 31, 2021, amortization of intangible assets decreased by $737, or 12%, mainly explained by the depreciation in the LATAM currencies partially offset by the amortization of intangible assets acquired during 2020.

Interest income: Interest income is the sum of interest income on financial instruments measured at amortized cost and other interest income. For the quarter, interest income was $1,998, a decrease of 57% or $2,651 compared to the same prior year period due to a decrease in interest rates, the average cash and marketable securities balances and a lower average loan balance.

Interest expense: The interest expense relates to interest incurred on bank loans. For the quarter ended March 31, 2021 interest expenses was $660, a decrease of $487 or 42% compared to the same period in the prior year due to decrease in the average loan balance outstanding.

Adjusted EBITDA: For the three-month period ended March 31, 2021, adjusted EBITDA was $5,580, an increase of $2,383 or 75% compared to the same period last year. The variance is explained by the above mentioned increase in gross margin and decrease in operating expenses.

Net income or loss: For the quarter ended March 31, 2021, net income was $3,558 compared to a net loss of $9,477 for the same period last year. The variance mainly resulted from the above-mentioned items as well as a net gain on the revaluation of financial assets measured at fair value through profit or loss of $9,473 in the first quarter of 2021 versus a loss of $6,730 in the prior year period.

Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities: As at March 31, 2021, Knight had $382,381 in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, a decrease of $9,844 or 3% as compared to December 31, 2020. The variance is primarily due to cash outflows related to the shares repurchased through NCIB, the bank loans repaid by Knight offset by cash generated from operating activities.

Financial assets: There is no significant variance for financial assets. However, given the nature of the fund investments there could be significant fluctuations in the fair value of the underlying assets. More specifically, an investment held within Sectoral Asset Management (“Sectoral”) fund, Atea Pharmaceutics Inc (“Atea”), announced in October 2020, the closing of its initial public offering at a public offering price of USD 24 per share. The shares held by Sectoral are subject to a 180-day lockup period. As at March 31, 2021, Atea’s share price closed at USD 61.75 compared to USD 41.78 as at December 31, 2020. As at May 12, 2021, Atea’s share price closed at USD 19.74 Should the share price of Atea remain at this level, the Company would record a loss of approximately $15.2M.

Bank Loans: As at March 31, 2021, bank loans were at $38,192, a decrease of $13,578 as compared to the prior period, mainly due to loan repayment of $8,848 and a further decrease of $4,854 due to the foreign exchange revaluation.

Product Updates

On March 1, 2021 the Company launched Ibsrela™ (tenapenor) for the treatment of IBS-C. The Company entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Ardelyx to commercialize Ibsrela™ in Canada in March 2018. Ibsrela™ is a first-in-class small molecule treatment for IBS-C. Ardelyx received regulatory approval for Ibsrela™ from the US FDA in September 2019. On April 17, 2020, the Company announced that Ibsrela™ was approved by Health Canada.

On April 23, 2021, the Company announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the exclusive rights to manufacture, market and sell Exelon®, indicated for the symptomatic treatment of mild to moderately severe dementia in people with Alzheimer’s disease, in Canada and Latin America (“Territory”). In addition, the Company obtained an exclusive license to use the intellectual property and the Exelon trademark in the Territory. At closing, Knight will pay USD 168,000 ($211,260¹) in cash and may pay up to USD 12,000 ($15,090¹) upon the achievement of certain conditions. For the year ended December 31, 2020, Exelon® sales in the Territory were approximately USD 47,000.

The closing of this transaction is subject to the completion of the anti-trust clearance process in Brazil. In conjunction with closing, Knight will enter into a transition service agreement until transfer of marketing authorization, on a country by country basis during which Knight will receive a net profit transfer. Knight will begin distributing Exelon upon transfer of marketing authorization, on a country by country basis.

NCIB

On July 10, 2020, the Company announced that the Toronto Stock Exchange approved its notice of intention to launch an additional NCIB (‘2020 NCIB”). Under the terms of the 2020 NCIB, Knight may purchase for cancellation up to 10,856,710 common shares of the Company which represented 10% of its public float as at July 6, 2020. The 2020 NCIB commenced on July 14, 2020 and will end on the earlier of July 13, 2021 or when the Company completes its maximum purchases under the 2020 NCIB. Furthermore, Knight entered into an agreement with a broker to facilitate purchases of its common shares under the 2020 NCIB. Under Knight’s automatic share purchase plan, the broker may purchase common shares which would ordinarily not be permitted due to regulatory restrictions or self-imposed blackout periods. During the three-month period ended March 31, 2021, the Company purchased 3,557,340 common shares, for an aggregate cash consideration of $18,592, of which $44 remains to be settled as at March 31, 2021. Subsequent to the quarter, the Company purchased an additional 512,271 common shares, for an aggregate cash consideration of $2,695.

¹ Converted using the March 31, 2021 closing foreign exchange rate, actual amount in CAD will vary depending on the exchange rate on the close of the transaction.


Conference Call Notice 

Knight will host a conference call and audio webcast to discuss its first quarter results today at 8:30 am ET. Knight cordially invites all interested parties to participate in this call.

Date: Friday, May 14, 2021
Time: 8:30 a.m. ET
Telephone: : Toll Free 888-506-0062 or International 973-528-001
Webcast: www.gud-knight.com or Webcast
This is a listen-only audio webcast. Media Player is required to listen to the broadcast.

Replay: An archived replay will be available for 30 days at www.gud-knight.com

About Knight Therapeutics Inc. 

Knight Therapeutics Inc., headquartered in Montreal, Canada, is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on acquiring or in-licensing and commercializing innovative pharmaceutical products for Canada and Latin America. Knight owns Biotoscana Investments S.A., a pan-Latin American specialty pharmaceutical company. Knight Therapeutics Inc.’s shares trade on TSX under the symbol GUD. For more information about Knight Therapeutics Inc., please visit the company’s web site at www.gud-knight.com or www.sedar.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

This document contains forward-looking statements for Knight Therapeutics Inc. and its subsidiaries. These forward-looking statements, by their nature, necessarily involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Knight Therapeutics Inc. considers the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based to be reasonable at the time they were prepared but cautions the reader that these assumptions regarding future events, many of which are beyond the control of Knight Therapeutics Inc. and its subsidiaries, may ultimately prove to be incorrect. Factors and risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations are discussed in Knight Therapeutics Inc.’s Annual Report and in Knight Therapeutics Inc.’s Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2020 as filed on www.sedar.com. Knight Therapeutics Inc. disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information or future events, except as required by law.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

IMPACT OF HYPERINFLATION

[In thousands of Canadian dollars]

The Company applies IAS 29, Financial Reporting in Hyperinflation Economies, as the Company’s Argentine subsidiaries used the Argentine Peso as their functional currency. IAS 29 requires that the financial statements of an entity whose functional currency is the currency of a hyperinflationary economy be adjusted based on an appropriate general price index to express the effects of inflation. If the Company did not apply IAS 29, the effect on the Company’s operating income would be as follows:

Q1-21

	Reported under IFRS		Excluding impact of IAS 29		Variance
					$1		%2
Revenues	46,069		46,082		(13	)	0	%
Cost of goods sold	25,489		24,376		(1,113	)	5	%
Gross margin	20,580		21,706		(1,126	)	5	%
Gross margin (%)	45%		47%
Expenses
Selling and marketing	7,613		7,614		1		0	%
General and administrative	7,082		6,874		(208	)	3	%
Research and development	2,818		2,770		(48	)	2	%
Amortization of intangible assets	5,302		5,086		(216	)	4	%
Operating loss	(2,235	)	(638	)	(1,597	)	250	%
1 A positive variance represents a positive impact to net income due to the application of IAS 29 and a negative variance represents a negative impact to net income due to the application of IAS 29
2 Percentage change is presented in absolute values

CONSTANT CURRENCY
[In thousands of Canadian dollars]

Financial results at constant currency allow results to be viewed without the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates thereby facilitating the comparison of results period over period. The presentation of results under constant currency is considered to be a non-GAPP measure and does not have any standardized meaning under GAAP. As a result, the information presented may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.

Financial results at constant currency are obtained by translating the prior period results at the average foreign exchange rates in effect during the current period. Furthermore, with respect to Argentina, for both Q1-20 and Q1-21, the Company excludes the impact of hyperinflation and translates the results at the average exchange rate in effect for each of the periods.

	Q1-21		Q1-20		Variance				Q1-20		Impact of FX on 2020
	Excluding impact of IAS 29
			Constant Currency		$1		%2				$1		%2
Revenues	46,082		41,959		4,123		10	%	45,488		(3,529	)	8	%
Cost of goods sold	24,376		22,045		(2,331	)	11	%	25,015		2,970		12	%
Gross margin	21,706		19,914		1,792		9	%	20,473		(559	)	3	%
Gross margin (%)	47%		47%						45%
Expenses
Selling and marketing	7,614		9,250		1,636		18	%	9,988		738		7	%
General and administrative	6,874		7,545		671		9	%	8,334		789		9	%
Research and development	2,770		2,632		(138	)	5	%	2,721		89		3	%
Amortization of intangible assets	5,086		5,112		26		1	%	5,559		447		8	%
Operating loss	(638	)	(4,625	)	3,987		86	%	(6,129	)	1,504		25	%
EBITDA	5,160		1,018		4,142		407	%	1,217		(199	)	16	%
Adjusted EBITDA	5,580		2,395		3,185		133	%	3,197		(802	)	25	%
1 A positive variance represents a positive impact to net income and a negative variance represents a negative impact to net income
2 Percentage change is presented in absolute values

RECONCILIATION TO ADJUSTED EBITDA
[In thousands of Canadian dollars]

Non-IFRS measures: EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

The Company discloses non-IFRS measures that do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS. The Company believes that shareholders, investment analysts and other readers find such measures helpful in understanding the Company’s financial performance and in interpreting the effect of the GBT Transaction on the Company. Non-IFRS financial measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and may not have been calculated in the same way as similarly named financial measures presented by other companies.

The Company uses the following non-IFRS measures:

EBITDA: Operating loss adjusted to exclude amortization and impairment of intangible assets, depreciation, PPA accounting adjustments, and the impact of IAS 29 (accounting under hyperinflation) but to include costs related to leases. In addition, EBITDA does not reflect the portion of GBT’s results attributable to the non-controlling interests.

Adjusted EBITDA: EBITDA adjusted for acquisition costs and non-recurring expenses.

Adjustments include the following:

• With the adoption of IFRS 16, the lease payments of Knight are not reflected in operating expenses. The IFRS 16 adjustment approximates the cash outflow related to leases of Knight.
• Acquisition costs relate to costs incurred on legal, consulting and advisory fees for the acquisition of GBT and products.
• Other non-recurring expenses relate to expenses incurred by Knight that are not due to, and are not expected to occur in, the ordinary course of business. For the quarter ended March 31, 2021, Knight recorded one-time costs of $70 related to restructuring activities including severance to certain employees as part of restructuring and integration of GBT.

For the three-month period ended March 31, the Company calculated EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA as follows:

	Q1-21		Q1-20
Operating loss	(2,235	)	(7,460	)
Adjustments to operating loss:
Amortization of intangible assets	5,302		6,039
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment and ROU assets	1,406		1,724
Lease costs (IFRS 16 adjustment)	(694	)	(834	)
Impact of PPA accounting	—		632
Impact of IAS 29	1,381		1,116
EBITDA	5,160		1,217
Acquisition and transaction costs	350		216
Other non-recurring expenses	70		1,764
Adjusted EBITDA	5,580		3,197

INTERIM CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
[In thousands of Canadian dollars]
[Unaudited]

As at
	March 31, 2021	December 31, 2020
ASSETS
Current
Cash and cash equivalents	271,218	229,592
Marketable securities	111,163	147,316
Trade receivables	52,682	62,515
Other receivables	10,046	12,413
Inventories	55,044	56,505
Prepaids and deposits	2,007	2,214
Other current financial assets	40,069	34,431
Income taxes receivable	7,855	7,115
Total current assets	550,084	552,101
Marketable securities	—	15,317
Prepaids and deposits	2,875	4,208
Right-of-use assets	3,623	4,035
Property, plant and equipment	22,476	22,127
Investment properties	1,414	1,539
Intangible assets	146,227	156,547
Goodwill	74,091	77,725
Other financial assets	153,853	159,524
Deferred income tax assets	2,137	2,432
Other long-term receivables	41,582	41,582
	448,278	485,036
Assets held for sale	2,433	2,539
Total assets	1,000,795	1,039,676

 

INTERIM CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (continued)
[In thousands of Canadian dollars]
[Unaudited]

	March 31, 2021		December 31, 2020
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Current
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	45,385		44,512
Lease liabilities	1,530		1,875
Other liabilities	1,768		1,291
Automatic share purchase plan liability	31,272		—
Bank loans	38,192		51,770
Income taxes payable	14,390		13,559
Other balances payable	3,408		1,053
Total current liabilities	135,945		114,060
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	308		316
Lease liabilities	2,174		2,543
Other balances payable	12,687		14,900
Deferred income tax liabilities	20,206		21,616
Total liabilities	171,320		153,435
Shareholders’ Equity
Share capital	641,461		694,351
Warrants	117		117
Contributed surplus	19,242		18,731
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(12,552	)	(1,503		)
Retained earnings	181,207		174,545
Total shareholders’ equity	829,475		886,241
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	1,000,795		1,039,676

INTERIM CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (LOSS)
[In thousands of Canadian dollars, except for share and per share amounts]
[Unaudited]

	Three months ended March 31,
	2021		2020
Revenues	46,069		45,839
Cost of goods sold	25,489		25,979
Gross margin	20,580		19,860
Expenses
Selling and marketing	7,613		10,114
General and administrative	7,082		8,418
Research and development	2,818		2,749
Amortization of intangible assets	5,302		6,039
Operating loss	(2,235	)	(7,460	)
Interest income on financial instruments measured at amortized cost	(886	)	(3,383	)
Other interest income	(1,112	)	(1,266	)
Interest expense	660		1,147
Other income	(112	)	(25	)
Net (gain) loss on financial instruments measured at fair value through profit or loss	(9,473	)	6,730
Net loss on mandatory tender offer liability	—		487
Realized gain on sale of asset held for sale	—		(2,948	)
Realized gain on automatic share purchase plan	—		(2,869	)
Foreign exchange loss	4,201		4,907
Loss on hyperinflation	60		277
Income (loss) before income taxes	4,427		(10,517	)
Income tax
Current	648		3,001
Deferred	221		(4,041	)
Income tax expense (recovery)	869		(1,040	)
Net income (loss) for the period	3,558		(9,477	)
Attributable to:
Shareholders of the Company	3,558		(1,709	)
Non-controlling interests	—		(7,768	)
Attributable to shareholders of the Company
Basic earnings (loss) per share	0.03		(0.01	)
Diluted earnings (loss) per share	0.03		(0.01	)
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding
Basic	128,841,383		135,144,152
Diluted	128,843,728		135,436,500

INTERIM CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
[In thousands of Canadian dollars]
[Unaudited]

	Three months ended March 31,
	2021		2020
OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Net income (loss) for the period	3,558		(9,477	)
Adjustments reconciling net income to operating cash flows:
Depreciation and amortization	6,708		7,763
Net (gain) loss on financial instruments	(9,473	)	6,730
Unrealized foreign exchange loss	4,657		4,907
Other operating activities	1,452		(8,457	)
	6,902		1,466
Changes in non-cash working capital and other items	10,628		(22,472	)
Interest payments on bank loans	(323	)	(161	)
Cash inflow (outflow) from operating activities	17,207		(21,167	)
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Purchase of marketable securities	(31,792	)	(13,415	)
Proceeds on maturity of marketable securities	83,156		76,446
Proceeds from distribution of funds	4,336		2,090
Other investing activities	220		70,909
Cash inflow from investing activities	55,920		136,030
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Repurchase of common shares through Normal Course Issuer Bid	(18,549	)	(13,311	)
Principal repayment on bank loans	(8,848	)	(731	)
Other financing activities	(630	)	11,168
Cash outflow from financing activities	(28,027	)	(2,874	)
Increase in cash and cash equivalents during the period	45,100		111,989
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of the period	229,592		174,268
Net foreign exchange difference	(3,474	)	685
Cash and cash equivalents, end of the period	271,218		286,942
Cash and cash equivalents	271,218		286,942
Short-term marketable securities	111,163		246,575
Long-term marketable securities	—		59,061
Total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities	382,381		592,578