1. General information

ProQR Therapeutics N.V., or “ProQR” or the “Company”, is a biotechnology company domiciled in the Netherlands that primarily focuses on the discovery and development of novel therapeutic medicines.

Since September 18, 2014, the Company’s ordinary shares have been listed on Nasdaq. They are currently trading at Nasdaq Capital Market under ticker symbol PRQR.

The Company was incorporated in the Netherlands, on February 21, 2012 (Chamber of Commerce no. 54600790) and was reorganized from a private company with limited liability to a public company with limited liability on September 23, 2014. The Company has its statutory seat in Leiden, the Netherlands. The address of its headquarters and registered office is Zernikedreef 9, 2333 CK Leiden, the Netherlands.

ProQR Therapeutics N.V. is the ultimate parent company of the following entities:

​

ProQR Therapeutics N.V. is also statutory director of Stichting Bewaarneming Aandelen ProQR (“ESOP Foundation”) and has full control over this entity.

As used in these condensed consolidated financial statements, unless the context indicates otherwise, all references to “ProQR” or the “Company” refer to ProQR Therapeutics N.V. including its subsidiaries and the ESOP Foundation.

2. Significant Accounting Policies

These interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the three month period ended March 31, 2024 have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 Interim Financial Statements. They should be read in conjunction with the Company’s annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023. These interim condensed consolidated financial statements do not include all information required for a complete set of financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS Standards. However, selected explanatory notes are included to explain events and transactions that are significant to an understanding of the changes in the Company’s financial position and performance since the last annual financial statements. In the opinion of management, all events and transactions that are significant to an understanding of the changes in financial position and performance of the Company since the end of the last annual reporting period are disclosed in these interim condensed consolidated financial statements. The accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the interim condensed consolidated financial statements are consistent with those applied in the preparation of the Company’s annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023.

During the quarter ended March 31, 2024, the Company invested in financial assets in the form of deposits with an original maturity of longer than three months but shorter than twelve months as described in Note 6. Financial assets are measured at amortised cost as they give rise on specified dates to cash flows that are solely payments of principal and interest on the principal amount outstanding.

​

The Company’s financial results have varied substantially, and are expected to continue to vary, from period to period. The Company believes that its ordinary activities are not linked to any particular seasonal factors.

​

The management of ProQR has, upon preparing and finalizing these interim condensed consolidated financial statements, assessed the Company’s ability to fund its operations for a period of at least one year after the date of signing these interim condensed consolidated financial statements. Management expects the Company to continue as a going concern based on its existing funding, taking into account the Company’s current cash position and the projected cash flows based on the activities under execution on the basis of ProQR’s business plan and budget. Based on our current operating plan, we believe that the existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund our anticipated level of operations at least into mid-2026. Thus, we continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

​

The carrying amount of all financial assets and financial liabilities is a reasonable approximation of the fair value and therefore information about the fair values of each class has not been disclosed.

​

The Company operates in one reportable segment, which comprises the discovery and development of innovative, RNA based therapeutics.

​

3. Adoption of new and revised International Financial Reporting Standards

New Standards and Interpretations, which became effective as of January 1, 2024, did not have a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements.

4. Critical Accounting Estimates and Judgments

In the application of the Company’s accounting policies, management is required to make judgments, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognized in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.

​

The significant judgements made by management in applying the Company’s accounting policies and the key sources of estimation uncertainty were the same as those described in the Company’s annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023.

5. Cash and cash equivalents

At March 31, 2024, the Company’s cash and cash equivalents were € 85,713,000 compared to € 118,925,000 at December 31, 2023. The cash balances are held at banks with investment grade credit ratings. Short-term credit ratings must be rated A-1/P-1/F1 at a minimum by at least one of the Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (“NRSROs”) specifically Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s or Fitch. The cash at banks is at full disposal of the Company. Included in cash and cash equivalents are deposits fixed for at most 3-month periods at a time.

6. Financial asset – current

This current financial asset relates to a term deposit with an initial maturity longer than 3 months but less than 12 months and does not qualify as a cash equivalent. The deposit is held at a bank with an investment grade credit rating. Short-term credit ratings must be rated A-1/P-1/F1 at a minimum by at least one of the NRSROs specifically Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s or Fitch.

7. Prepayments and other receivables

​

At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 prepayments consisted principally of payments made by the Company for services not yet provided by vendors. At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 other receivables consisted principally of amounts receivable from research collaboration partners and deposits.

8. Property, plant and equipment

At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, property plant and equipment consisted of buildings and leasehold improvements, laboratory equipment and other assets. Buildings and leasehold improvements include a right-of-use asset relating to the lease of our Leiden office and laboratory space, with a carrying amount of € 16,721,000 at March 31, 2024 (December 31, 2023: € 16,897,000).

9. Other current liabilities

At March 31, 2024, other current liabilities amount to € 5,927,000 (December 31, 2023: € 8,509,000). At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, other current liabilities consisted principally of accruals for services provided by vendors not yet billed, payroll related accruals and other miscellaneous liabilities.

10. Borrowings

​

On December 10, 2018 ProQR was awarded an Innovation credit for the sepofarsen program. Amounts were drawn under this facility from 2018 through 2022. The credit of € 3,907,000 was used to conduct the Phase 2/3 clinical study and efforts to obtain regulatory and ethical market approval (New Drug Applications (“NDA”)/ Marketing Authorization Applications (“MAA”)) of sepofarsen for LCA10. In 2023, ProQR made a partial repayment of the principal, amounting to € 1,008,000. The remaining amount payable of € 2,899,000 and accrued interest is recognized under current borrowings at March 31, 2024 and non-current borrowings at December 31, 2023.

​

In December 2023, ProQR received a conditional waiver of the balance of the Innovation credit including accrued interest. Consequently, the repayment of the total loan of € 4,365,000, including interest, will be waived if conditions are met, which will be reviewed annually.

​

11. Lease liabilities

At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, lease liabilities primarily consisted of the Company’s lease of office and laboratory facilities at Zernikedreef in Leiden, the Netherlands.

The Company leases office and laboratory facilities of 4,818 square meters at Zernikedreef in Leiden, the Netherlands, where our headquarters and our laboratories are located. The current lease agreement for these facilities terminates on June 30, 2031. The lease agreement contains no significant dismantling requirements.

The initial 10-year lease agreement for the Leiden office and laboratory facilities was accounted for as of commencement date July 1, 2020. This 10-year period was extended by 1 year to an 11-year period in December 2020. The lease contract may be extended for subsequent 5-year periods. As the Company is not reasonably certain to exercise these extension options, these are not included in the lease term.

The carrying amount of the right-of-use asset is disclosed in Note 8.

12. Deferred income

​
The following table summarizes details of deferred income at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023. The nature of the deferred income is described in Note 14 and 15.
​

13. Shareholders’ equity

The authorized share capital of the Company amounting to € 13,600,000 consists of 170,000,000 ordinary shares and 170,000,000 preference shares with a par value of € 0.04 per share. At March 31, 2024, 84,248,384 ordinary shares were issued. 81,662,219 ordinary shares were fully paid and 2,586,165 ordinary shares were held by the Company as treasury shares (December 31, 2023: 2,893,792).

​

Translation reserve

The translation reserve comprises all foreign currency differences arising from the translation of the financial statements of foreign operations.

​

Share options

The Company operates an equity-settled share-based compensation plan, which was introduced in 2013. Options and Restricted Stock Units (“RSUs”) may be granted to employees, members of the Supervisory Board, members of the Management Board and consultants. The compensation expenses included in operating costs for this plan in the three month period ended March 31, 2024 were € 736,000 (three month period ended March 31, 2023: € 1,095,000), of which € 577,000 was recorded in general and administrative costs (three month period ended March 31, 2023: € 739,000) and € 159,000 was recorded in research and development costs (three month period ended March 31, 2023: € 356,000).

​

14. Revenue

Eli Lilly

In September 2021, the Company entered into a global licensing and research collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company (‘Lilly’) focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of potential new medicines for genetic disorders in the liver and nervous system. ProQR and Lilly will use ProQR’s proprietary Axiomer® RNA editing platform to progress new drug targets toward clinical development and commercialization.

Under the terms of the agreement, ProQR received an upfront payment and equity consideration, and is eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties on the net sales of any resulting products. In September 2021, the Company issued 3,989,976 shares to Lilly, resulting in net proceeds of $30,000,000 (€ 25,270,000). This amount included a price premium of $2,429,000 (€ 2,047,000), which was determined to be part of the transaction price and as such was initially recognized as deferred revenue. An up-front payment of $20,000,000 (€ 16,849,000) was received in October 2021.

With regard to its original collaboration with Lilly, the Company concluded as follows:

15. Other income

​

In January, 2024, the Company entered into an agreement with the Rett Syndrome Research Trust (“RSRT”) that focuses on the design and development of editing oligonucleotides (“EONs”) using the Company’s Axiomer technology platform targeting the transcription factor Methyl CpG binding protein 2 (“MECP2”) and correcting mutations of interest. Under the agreement, RSRT awarded the Company up to € 1,015,000 as a research grant for the initial phase of the project.

​

Grants are recognized in other income in the same period in which the related R&D costs are recognized.

16. Research and development costs

Research and development costs amount to € 9,283,000 for the three month period ended March 31, 2024 (three month period ended March 31, 2023: € 6,060,000) and are comprised of allocated employee costs including share-based payments, the costs of materials and laboratory consumables, outsourced activities, license and intellectual property costs and other allocated costs. Research and development costs increased by € 3,223,000 compared to the same period in the prior year, mainly due to the Company’s increased outsourced research and development activities in the first quarter of 2024 and increased full time employee equivalents (“FTE”).

17. General and administrative costs

General and administrative costs amount to € 3,452,000 for the three month period ended March 31, 2024 (three month period ended March 31, 2023: € 4,026,000).

18. Investments in financial assets

Investment in financial assets consist of the Company’s investment in Phoenicis Therapeutics Inc. (“Phoenicis”) and Yarrow Biotechnology Inc (“Yarrow”).

​

ProQR holds a 3.9% interest in Phoenicis. At March 31, 2024, the investment amounts to nil (December 31, 2023: € nil) after ProQR recognized a fair value loss in the third quarter of 2023 in other comprehensive income.

​

ProQR holds a 5.1% interest in Yarrow. In October 2023, ProQR initially recognized its investment in the Yarrow financial asset at € nil. As at March 31, 2024, the fair value of the Yarrow financial asset amounted to € nil (December 31, 2023: nil).

​

​

20. Income taxes

The current income tax liability amounts to € nil at March 31, 2024 (December 31, 2023: € nil). No significant temporary differences exist between accounting and tax results. Realization of deferred tax assets is dependent on future earnings, if any, the timing and amount of which are uncertain. Accordingly, the Company has not yet recognized any deferred tax asset related to operating losses.

Tax losses may be carried forward indefinitely. However, the offset of losses will be limited in a given year against the first € 1 million of taxable profit. For taxable profit in excess of this amount, losses may only be offset up to 50% of this excess.

​

21. Events after balance sheet date

None.

​