OmniAb NASDAQ: OABI reported first-quarter 2026 results that management characterized as a “very strong start to the year,” driven primarily by clinical progress across its partner portfolio and associated milestone revenue.
Partner program progress drives revenue outperformance
President and CEO Matt Foehr said the company continues to see partner programs derived from OmniAb’s technologies move into the clinic and into later-stage development, which he described as the point where the licensing model translates into “clearer and more visible value” through potential future milestones and royalties. He added that the company’s business is designed to generate “durable revenue streams,” with royalties from differentiated pharmaceutical products viewed as “extremely valuable.”
In the quarter, OmniAb ended with 32 active clinical programs and approved products leveraging its technologies, a figure the company reports net of attrition. Foehr said a second OmnidAb-derived program entered phase I human testing during the quarter, and OmniAb continues to anticipate “multiple new clinical entrants in 2026.” He also noted approximately $350 million in remaining potential contracted milestones tied to the clinical-stage portfolio.
Foehr highlighted several developments in the partner pipeline during the quarter, including an OmnidAb-derived program that progressed from phase I to phase II and a second OmnidAb-derived program entering human trials. He said both partners have requested confidentiality around the targets and the source of the antibodies.
Foehr also pointed to movement in later-stage development, including Romantamig (formerly JNJ-5322), which he said “jumped from phase I to phase III” on the company’s pipeline chart. He described the asset as a tri-specific antibody being developed for multiple myeloma and said JNJ Innovative Medicine previously highlighted the program with “impressive clinical data.”
Another partner program discussed was Teva’s anti-IL-15 asset TEV-’408. Foehr noted that Teva announced a “very large investment” in the program from Royalty Pharma during the quarter and said Teva described the program on its recent earnings call as being on an “accelerated path.”
Upcoming catalysts: Teva, Immunovant and ASCO presentations
Management outlined a series of expected clinical and regulatory events in 2026. Foehr said Teva expects data readouts in the first half of the year, including TEV-’408 in vitiligo from a 24-week proof-of-concept study using a week 24 body surface area score as the primary endpoint, which Teva has described as the registrational endpoint in the disease. He added that additional readouts are expected in the second half of the year from Teva, Merck KGaA, and Immunovant’s IMVT-1402 program.
On the call, Truist Securities analyst Srikripa Devarakonda asked about Immunovant after the company reported that batoclimab failed a phase III trial in thyroid eye disease. Foehr said Immunovant has been “highly focused” on rapidly advancing IMVT-1402 and had been signaling that shift for “almost a couple of years.” He said the batoclimab update had “no impact on our planning or our guidance,” and he reiterated that IMVT-1402 is being evaluated across multiple autoimmune diseases, including Graves’ disease, difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, as well as myasthenia gravis, CIDP, and Sjögren’s disease.
Foehr also previewed that several partner programs will be featured at the upcoming ASCO conference in Chicago, including antibody-drug conjugates and bispecific antibodies derived from OmniAb technologies. In response to a question from H.C. Wainwright analyst Joseph Pantginis, Foehr said OmniAb milestones are generally linked to clinical and regulatory events (such as phase starts and approvals) rather than “data disclosures,” though he added there can be milestones tied to “data generation.”
Technology updates: OmniUltra, OmnidAb and xPloration
Foehr emphasized OmniAb’s focus on technology innovation as a licensing differentiator. He said the company is “the only company in the world with a transgenic chicken platform that creates fully human antibody sequences,” and argued that the evolutionary distance between chickens and mammals can generate a more robust and diverse antibody response to novel targets.
He highlighted OmniUltra, launched in December, which he described as “the first and only transgenic chicken that produces antibodies with ultralong CDRH3s,” a feature typically found in cows. Foehr said ultralong CDRH3 antibodies are designed to reach binding pockets not accessible with other antibodies or modalities and may serve as building blocks for multi-specifics, CAR-T binders, radiopharma therapies, and “in vivo generated peptides.” OmniAb scientists are set to present on OmniUltra at the PEGS protein engineering meeting and the TIDES peptide meeting in Boston.
In Q&A with Leerink Partners analyst Michael Sonntag, Foehr said OmniUltra is in “early days” but that “the reception is good” and OmniAb already has multiple OmniUltra partner programs underway. He also said the platform creates an opportunity to reach new customers in peptides, calling it “a bit of a new sell,” and noted that more than 130 companies not previously in OmniAb’s business development “call file” are now being engaged around the opportunity.
Foehr also discussed xPloration, OmniAb’s high-throughput single B-cell screening platform that leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence. He said the xPloration sales funnel continues to grow with “high-quality prospects” and described demand for demos based on “rapid run times,” “ease of use,” and robustness. He framed broader AI adoption as a “tailwind” for the industry and said OmniAb has leveraged AI “for quite a while,” including through its OmniDeep in silico toolset.
Partner metrics: steady partner count, growing active programs
OmniAb reported 107 active partners at the end of Q1, consistent with year-end 2025. Foehr said the company signed a new license with Florida State University and is seeing growing opportunities in academia through agreements designed to share in the economics of assets generated from OmniAb technology. He added that partner adds in the quarter were offset by attrition, which he described as expected, and said eight of the 10 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world are active partners.
The company ended the quarter with 409 active programs, reflecting new program additions and starts offset by attrition. Foehr said approximately 98% of active programs include contracted future economics to OmniAb. Across the portfolio, he cited more than $3 billion in total contracted milestones on standard antibody licenses and an average contracted royalty rate of approximately 3.4%.
Asked by Rodman & Renshaw about whether new contracts are more valuable than older ones, Foehr said the company’s average royalty rate has improved over time and attributed OmniAb’s ability to “command strong economics” to validation of its platform and continued investment. He also noted that program starts can stem from agreements signed years earlier, not only recent contracts.
Financial results: milestone revenue lifts Q1; guidance raised
Chief Financial Officer Kurt Gustafson reported total revenue of $14.4 million for the first quarter, up from $4.2 million in the year-ago quarter. He said the increase was primarily driven by higher milestone revenue reflecting partner clinical progress. Service revenue rose modestly due to new ion channel agreements signed late last year and early this year, while royalty and xPloration revenue were “about the same” year-over-year.
Operating expenses in Q1 decreased slightly to $22.3 million from $23.0 million. Gustafson attributed the change mainly to lower personnel expenses and outside service costs, including contract research and legal. The quarter also included a $2.9 million non-cash write-off related to certain legacy small molecule ion channel and tangible assets; Gustafson said that without the write-off, operating expense would have shown a larger year-over-year decrease.
R&D expense decreased $3.0 million to $9.6 million, and G&A expense decreased $1.3 million to $6.6 million, which Gustafson said reflected cost savings and efficiency initiatives. Net loss was $7.7 million, or $0.06 per share, compared with a net loss of $18.2 million, or $0.17 per share, in the prior-year period. Excluding the one-time non-cash charge, Gustafson said Q1 EPS would have been a loss of $0.04 per share.
OmniAb ended the quarter with $49.1 million in cash and cash equivalents. Gustafson noted accounts receivable increased slightly due to milestones achieved during the quarter that will be paid after quarter-end, and he said the company remains “well-capitalized” to execute its strategy.
Based on the first-quarter performance, OmniAb raised its full-year 2026 revenue outlook to $28 million to $33 million. Gustafson said the increase was primarily driven by a partner milestone achieved in Q1 that was not included in the company’s original guidance. The company also updated its GAAP operating expense guidance to $83 million to $88 million, driven primarily by the non-cash impairment charge recorded in Q1, while maintaining cash operating expense guidance of $50 million to $55 million.
With higher expected revenue and unchanged cash operating expense expectations, OmniAb now anticipates ending 2026 with $33 million to $38 million in cash and cash equivalents. Gustafson said the full-year effective tax rate is expected to remain approximately 0% due to the company’s valuation allowance.
About OmniAb NASDAQ: OABI
OmniAb, Inc NASDAQ: OABI operates as a biotechnology company specializing in the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies. The company’s integrated antibody discovery platform combines proprietary transgenic animal models, in vitro screening, and in silico engineering to accelerate lead identification and optimization. OmniAb offers both fee-for-service collaborations and license agreements, enabling biopharmaceutical partners to leverage its suite of technologies for programs spanning oncology, immunology, and other therapeutic areas.
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, OmniAb went public in May 2021.
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