Note 1 - Organization

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Notes to Financial Statements

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block]

1. Organization

XBiotech Inc. (XBiotech or the Company) was incorporated in Canada on March 22, 2005. XBiotech USA, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, was incorporated in Delaware, United States in November 2007. XBiotech Germany GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, was incorporated in Germany in January 2014. The Company’s headquarters are located in Austin, Texas.

Since its inception, XBiotech has focused on advancing technology to rapidly identify and clone antibodies from individuals that have resistance to disease. At the heart of the Company is a proprietary technical knowhow to translate natural human immunity into therapeutic product candidates. The Company has in its pipeline both anti-infective and anti-inflammatory candidate therapeutics derived from this technology.

An area of medical focus for XBiotech are therapies that block a potent substance naturally produced by body, known as interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1a), that mediates tissue breakdown, angiogenesis, the formation of blood clots and inflammation. IL-1a is a protein that is on or in cells of the body and is involved in the body’s response to injury or trauma. In almost all chronic and in some acute injury scenarios (such as stroke or heart attack), IL-1a may mediate harmful disease-related activity.

At the end of 2019, XBiotech sold a True Human™ antibody that blocked IL-1a activity for $1.35 billion in cash and potential milestone payments (the “Janssen Transaction”). On February 2, 2022, XBiotech announced an addendum to the 2019 Janssen Manufacturing Agreement. XBiotech will continue to manufacture bermekimab for use by Janssen in its clinical trials through December 2023. As part of the Janssen Transaction, XBiotech maintained the right to develop new antibodies that block IL-1a and develop these therapeutics in all areas of medicine except dermatology. Moreover, all patents acquired by Janssen relating to IL-1a would be asserted for the benefit of XBiotech to protect its future IL-1a related therapies in all non-dermatological indications.  Consequently, XBiotech is pursuing the development of other True Human™ antibodies targeting IL-1a for areas of medicine outside of dermatology. Due to the speed and effectiveness of the Company’s True Human™ antibody discovery technology, the Company has identified new IL-1a targeting product candidates and has already brought one such candidate into a clinical study in oncology. While the Company previously was focused on a single True Human™ antibody targeting IL-1a, it now plans to develop more than one product candidate that targets IL-1a to be used in different areas of medicine.

The Company continues to be subject to a number of risks common to companies in similar stages of development. Principal among these risks are the uncertainties of technological innovations, dependence on key individuals, development of the same or similar technological innovations by the Company’s competitors and protection of proprietary technology. The Company’s ability to fund its planned clinical operations, including completion of its planned trials, is expected to depend on the amount and timing of cash receipts from future collaboration or product sales and/or financing transactions. The Company believes that its cash and cash equivalents of $231.8 million at March 31, 2022, will enable the Company to achieve several major inflection points, including potential new clinical studies with lead product candidates. The Company expects to have sufficient cash through 12 months from the date of this report.