Vericel Corp recently released its 10-Q report. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company develops, manufactures and sells cellular therapies and specialty biologic products in North America for sports medicine and severe burn care. Its marketed products are MACI for knee cartilage repair, Epicel for large burns, and NexoBrid for eschar removal in burn patients.
In Item 2, management said total revenue rose 30.1% year over year to $68.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2026, from $52.6 million. MACI revenue increased 21.8% to $56.4 million, Epicel revenue more than doubled to $10.9 million from $5.0 million, and NexoBrid revenue slipped 14.6% to $1.1 million. Management said the revenue gain was driven mainly by MACI and Epicel volume and price growth, partly offset by lower NexoBrid volume.
Gross profit climbed 35.8% to $49.3 million from $36.3 million, while cost of product sales increased 17.4% to $19.2 million. Research and development spending rose 11.6% to $8.1 million, and selling, general and administrative expense increased 17.8% to $49.2 million. Total operating expenses were $57.3 million, up from $49.1 million a year earlier.
The company reported a loss from operations of $8.1 million, narrowing from $12.8 million in the prior-year quarter. Other income was $1.8 million, compared with $1.5 million, and net loss improved to $6.3 million from $11.2 million.
Vericel said MACI remains its largest product and that the arthroscopic MACI Arthro launch, which began commercial availability in the third quarter of 2024, has drawn interest from more than 900 surgeons who have participated in company education and training. The company said it expanded its target surgeon base from 5,000 to 7,000 to include orthopedic surgeons performing high volumes of knee cartilage repair, mostly through arthroscopic procedures.
The company also said it received IND clearance in the second quarter of 2025 for MACI use in the ankle and started the MASCOT trial in the fourth quarter of 2025. The study will enroll 309 subjects ages 17 to 65 in a two-year, two-arm trial comparing MACI with arthroscopic bone marrow stimulation for osteochondral lesions of the talus.
On manufacturing, Vericel said its Cambridge facility is used for U.S. production and distribution of MACI and Epicel, while its Burlington, Massachusetts facility is complete and being used for office space. In March 2026, the company received FDA approval to begin MACI commercial manufacturing at Burlington and has started shifting manufacturing there. It said the Burlington site is intended to become the primary MACI facility and, later, the primary Epicel facility after FDA qualification.
For NexoBrid, Vericel said manufacturing is handled by MediWound, mainly in Israel, with some raw materials, including bromelain, sourced from Taiwan. The company also said NexoBrid was approved for pediatric patients in August 2024, expanding the burn-care franchise beyond adult use. The market has reacted to these announcements by moving the company's shares 0.08% to a price of $36.8089. If you want to know more, read the company's complete 10-Q report here.
