Biopharmaceutical company Heat Biologics Inc. reported lower-than-expected earnings Thursday due to higher research and development expenses, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Durham-based company reported a net loss of $3.7 million, or 16 cents per share. The earnings of the biopharmaceutical company were 10 cents lower than analyst estimates polled by Nasdaq.

Heat Biologics finished the quarter with $21 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand. It expects to receive an additional $6.9 million in grant funds for its co-stimulatory antibody PTX-35 within the next few months.

“Combined, these funds should provide us with sufficient capital to significantly advance our clinical programs through a number of key milestones, including completion of our Phase 2 trial of HS-110, which holds the potential to drive significant value for shareholders,” said CEO Jeff Wolf in a statement.

The company invested significant capital into research and development during the third-quarter. Its research and development expenses increased 144.4 percent to $4.4 million, from $1.8 million in the same period in 2017.

Its revenues increased 290.7 percent to $1.8 million during the quarter.

Heat Biologics is a biopharmaceutical company developing drugs designed to activate a patient’s immune system against cancer. It was founded in 2008 with the mission to change how cancer is treated through therapies that harness the power of the patient’s own immune system.

HS-110 is the company’s front-runner candidate drug in a series of proprietary immunotherapies. The drug has reported positive responses to difficult-to-treat types of cancer, which generated increased interest from the pharmaceutical industry.

“We continue to advance our Phase 2 trial investigating our lead candidate HS-110 in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer,” said Wolf. “We intend to announce updates regarding interim Phase 2 data in the fourth quarter of 2018 and plan to complete patient enrollment in the second quarter of 2019.”

The company’s stock rose 14 cents, or 9.2 percent, to $1.66 on Thursday.

The announcement can be found here.