Scholar Rock Holding Corporation is a biopharmaceutical firm dedicated to discovering and advancing treatments for severe medical conditions by targeting the crucial ...
Scholar Rock Holding Corporation, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing innovative therapies for severe medical conditions. Founded in 2012 from pioneering research at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, the company focuses on the role of protein growth factor signaling, particularly ...Scholar Rock Holding Corporation, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing innovative therapies for severe medical conditions. Founded in 2012 from pioneering research at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, the company focuses on the role of protein growth factor signaling, particularly the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) superfamily, in disease pathogenesis. Their lead therapeutic candidate, apitegromab, is a selective inhibitor of the activation of latent myostatin, designed to preserve muscle mass and function. It has successfully completed Phase 3 clinical trials (SAPPHIRE) for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare genetic neuromuscular disorder, and is also being evaluated in other indications. Another key program, SRK-181, is an antibody targeting latent TGF-beta1 activation, currently in Phase 1 trials for cancers resistant to checkpoint inhibitors. The company also has a robust preclinical pipeline and a strategic collaboration with Gilead Sciences to develop inhibitors of TGF-beta activation for fibrotic diseases. Financially, Scholar Rock has no approved products and relies on funding; as of the latest data, it has a market cap of ~$6.3 billion, with negative earnings and cash flows typical of clinical-stage biotech. It employs approximately 289 people, with a strong focus on research and development. Key management includes CEO David L. Hallal, who has a proven track record in biotech leadership. The company aims to become a global commercial-stage biotech, with hopes to file for regulatory approval of apitegromab in the near future. Its pipeline and partnerships position it to address significant unmet medical needs in neuromuscular, oncologic, and fibrotic diseases.
YoYYoY means Year-over-Year. It compares the latest annual value with the previous annual value to show long-term trend strength.
QoQQoQ means Quarter-over-Quarter. It compares the latest quarter with the immediately previous quarter to show short-term momentum changes.
RevenueThe total money that came through the front door from selling things, before paying a single bill. Think of it as the grand total of every credit card swipe from customers. (YoY compares this year to last year's performance, while QoQ compares the current three months to the previous three).
$0
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Net IncomeThe absolute bottom line. If the company paid every single supplier, employee, banker, and tax collector, this is the actual money left in their pocket at the end of the day.
$-377.9M
-53.5%
-4.2%
Gross MarginThe basic markup. If they sell a $100 pair of sneakers, this percentage tells you how much of that price tag is profit right after paying for the rubber and shoelaces, but before paying for things like store rent or TV commercials.
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Operating MarginThe 'day job' efficiency score. Out of every dollar a customer spends, this shows how many cents the company keeps after making the product AND paying for all the everyday corporate overhead (like salaries, marketing, and keeping the lights on).
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Net MarginThe final take-home percentage. When you strip away every conceivable cost, tax, and interest payment, this is the exact number of cents the company truly gets to keep from every dollar in sales.
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Free Cash FlowThe holy grail of corporate cash. It's the spendable, physical money left over after the business pays for its daily operations AND buys the big, expensive upgrades (like new factories or servers) it needs to survive. This is the 'free' money they can use to pay dividends or buy back stock.
$-300.6M
-49.5%
+15.2%
FCF MarginThe ultimate cash conversion rate. It shows how good the company is at turning regular sales directly into cold, hard, spendable cash. A high percentage means the business is an absolute cash-printing machine.
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Debt / EquityThe financial risk gauge. It compares how much of the company's empire was built using borrowed money (loans) versus the owners' own money (shareholders). A high number means they are heavily leveraged and playing a riskier game; a low number means they are playing it safe.
44.4%
+151.1%
+7.8%
Current RatioThe 12-month survival check. It simply compares the cash they have right now (plus things they can quickly turn into cash) against the immediate bills they absolutely must pay this year. A score above 1 means they have enough in the wallet to cover the upcoming bills without panicking.
6.95x
-27.7%
-18.7%
Total AssetsThe absolute size of the company's empire. It bundles together absolutely everything of value they own—from the cash in the register and the inventory in the warehouse, to the software patents in the vault and the factories on the ground.
Operator: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Scholar Rock's Second Quarter 2026 Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded on Thursday, August 6, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Scholar Rock. Please go ahead.
Laura Ekas: Good morning. I'm Laura Ekas, Vice President of Investor Relations at Scholar Rock. With me today are David Hallal, Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer; Akshay Vaishnaw, President of R&D; Keith Woods, Chief Operating Officer; and Vikas Sinha, Chief Financial Officer. During today's call, David will provide introductory remarks and a business update. Akshay will review our R&D progress. Keith will provide an update on our commercial readiness activities and Vikas will provide a financial update. We will then open the call for questions. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that during this call, we will be making various statements about Scholar Rock's expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements represent our views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any future date. I encourage you to go to the Investors and Media section of our website for our most up-to-date SEC statements and filings. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to David. David?
David Hallal: Thank you, Laura, and good morning. Thanks to everyone for joining our second quarter earnings call. Today, Scholar Rock is operating from a position of strength as we enter a defining period for our company and for the SMA community. Across the business, we are executing with focus, discipline and urgency as we drive towards the U.S. launch of apitegromab this quarter, advance our apitegromab MAA in Europe to approval and prepare for launch in Germany, build momentum across our world-leading anti-myostatin platform and maintain the financial strength to support our ambitions. Most importantly, we are on the threshold of bringing the world's first muscle-targeted therapy to children and adults living with SMA as we advance apitegromab through the final stages of the FDA regulatory process. Let me now provide additional detail on the ongoing review of our apitegromab BLA in the U.S. As a reminder, the sole approvability issue for apitegromab noted in the complete response letter that we received on our priority review PDUFA date last September was related to observations identified at a routine general site inspection of the Catalent Indiana fill/finish facility owned and operated by Novo Nordisk. Since our constructive and collaborative Type A meeting in November, the cadence of activities has reflected the shared understanding between us and the agency of the high unmet need in the SMA community and a shared sense of urgency to bring apitegromab to children and adults with SMA as rapidly as …
