Cambridge biotech tracker · Cambridge
Wave Life Sciences
Listed on Nasdaq as WVE, filed under SEC industry code 2834 (pharmaceutical preparations). Fiscal year ends in December. Numbers below are from the company’s own SEC filings through Q3 '26.
- Cash & investments
- $431M
- Q3 '26 · Sep 30, 2026
- Burn per quarter
- $51.8M
- avg. operating cash flow, 4 qtrs
- Runway
- 2.1 yrs
- 24 to 36 months
- Net loss
- $61.9M
- Q3 '26
- R&D expense
- $53.8M
- 68% of opex
- Raised, last 4 qtrs
- +$443M
- net financing cash flow
- Next readout
- Sep 2027
- Phase 1/2 · cash past the catalyst
Cash & investments
Quarter-end balance
Operating cash flow
Per quarter; below zero is burn
R&D expense
Per quarter
Two views of the runway
Compare across the clusterThe outside view
2.1 years
Cash at Q3 '26 divided by the average burn of the last four quarters, $17.3M a month.
Management’s own date
12+ months
The latest filing states only the going concern minimum, that cash covers at least twelve months from issuance. No sharper date was filed.
Cash against the calendar
What the runway has to reach.
Sep 2027estimated
A Phase 1b/2a, Open-label Single Ascending Doses and Multiple Ascending Doses Study in Participants With Pi*ZZ AATD
Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
NCT06405633 on ClinicalTrials.govDoes the cash reach it?
Cash past the catalyst
- Runway
- 2.1 years
- Time to the date
- 10 months
It is about 10 months out. At the current burn there is roughly 15 months of cash left on the far side of it, which is enough room to raise on the result rather than ahead of it.
Catalysts ahead
Pipeline
4 active trials, through phase 2.
Phase 1/2 · 3Phase 2 · 1
| Study | Phase | Status | Enrolled | Primary completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open-Label Extension Study of WVE-N531 in Patients With Duchenne Muscular DystrophyNCT07209332 · Duchenne Muscular DystrophyPhase 2Mar 2029est.· not a catalyst | Phase 2 | Enrolling by invitation | ||
| Open-label Study of WVE-N531 in Patients With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (FORWARD-53)NCT04906460 · Duchenne Muscular DystrophyPhase 1/2Oct 2026est. | Phase 1/2 | Active, not recruiting | ||
| A Phase 1b/2a, Open-label Single Ascending Doses and Multiple Ascending Doses Study in Participants With Pi*ZZ AATDNCT06405633 · Alpha-1 Antitrypsin DeficiencyPhase 1/2Sep 2027est. | Phase 1/2 | Recruiting | ||
| A Phase 1/2a Study of WVE-007 in Adults Living With Overweight or ObesityNCT06842186 · Overweight and ObesityPhase 1/2Dec 2027est. | Phase 1/2 | Recruiting |
Interventional studies where this company is the lead sponsor, from ClinicalTrials.gov. Primary completion is when the last patient is measured on the primary endpoint, which is when the data exists rather than when it is announced. Extension, rollover and healthy-volunteer studies are listed but marked as non-catalysts, because they finish long after the result that mattered. Sponsors revise these dates as enrollment moves, so an estimate is a plan rather than a promise.
The controller’s read
What the filings say.
Generated from the numbers above using the same questions I ask when I open a client’s books: how long the cash lasts, what is driving the gap between loss and burn, and where the accounting judgment sits.
Get this read on your companyThe cash clears the next catalyst
The next dated event is a phase 1/2 readout in Sep 2027, about 10 months out. That leaves roughly 15 months of cash afterwards, which is the position you want: the raise can be negotiated on the data instead of on the calendar.
About 2.1 years of runway
Cash and investments of $431M at Q3 '26 against an average operating cash burn of $51.8M per quarter over the last four reported quarters runs out around September 2028. More than two years of runway means the finance conversation is about deployment, not survival.
Cash position up $129M since Q4 '24
Net financing inflows of $443M over the last four quarters, from equity, debt, or ATM sales, more than covered operating burn. The balance is the number the board watches; the trend is the number the auditors watch.
R&D is 68% of operating expenses
$53.8M of R&D against $79.2M of total operating expenses in Q3 '26, with G&A at $25.4M. For a clinical-stage company, the accounting questions live inside that R&D line: CRO and CMC accruals, milestone recognition, and what gets capitalized versus expensed under ASC 730.
Revenue of $13.2M in Q3 '26
The balance sheet carries $21.4M of deferred revenue, which is typically upfront collaboration or license payments being recognized over time. Collaboration and license revenue under ASC 606 and ASC 808 is the single most judgment-heavy area in biotech accounting: performance obligations, variable consideration on milestones, and the split between revenue and cost-sharing.
Accumulated deficit of $1.48B
Total losses since inception. It is also roughly the size of the net operating loss carryforward the tax provision has to track, subject to Section 382 limits after each ownership change.
Quarterly detail, eight quarters
| Quarter | Cash & inv. | Op. cash flow | Net income | R&D | G&A | Revenue | Stock comp | Financing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 '24 · Dec 31, 24 | $302M | −$43.6M | $29.3M | $44.6M | $16.1M | — | $3.2M | $35.0M |
| Q1 '25 · Mar 31, 25 | $243M | −$63.0M | −$46.9M | $40.6M | $18.4M | $9.2M | $5.0M | $4.2M |
| Q2 '25 · Jun 30, 25 | $208M | −$46.0M | −$50.5M | $43.5M | $18.0M | $8.7M | — | $11.7M |
| Q3 '25 · Sep 30, 25 | $196M | −$44.7M | −$53.9M | $45.9M | $18.1M | $7.6M | — | $32.7M |
| Q4 '25 · Dec 31, 25 | $602M | −$33.8M | −$53.2M | $52.8M | $20.9M | $17.2M | $7.4M | $440M |
| Q1 '26 · Mar 31, 26 | $545M | −$59.6M | −$26.1M | $47.4M | $22.1M | $38.2M | $9.1M | $2.5M |
| Q2 '26 · Jun 30, 26 | $491M | −$53.6M | −$69.4M | $51.3M | $24.8M | $2.3M | — | $330K |
| Q3 '26 · Sep 30, 26 | $431M | −$60.1M | −$61.9M | $53.8M | $25.4M | $13.2M | — | $433K |
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts, latest filed value for each period. Fourth quarters are derived from annual less nine-month figures; quarterly cash flows are derived from year-to-date amounts. Not investment advice. If a figure disagrees with the filing, the filing is right.