BOULDER — Clinical-stage, pre-revenue pharmaceutical company Edgewise Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: EWTX) posted higher year-over-year losses in the fourth quarter of 2022, driven mostly by additional spending on research and development. 

The company, which markets itself as a developer of “orally bioavailable, targeted, small molecule therapies for the treatment of devastating muscle disorders,” posted a net loss of $19.4 million, or 31 cents per share, in the most recent quarter, up from $12.7 million, or 26 cents per share.

Research and development made up $16.6 million of the company’s expenses in the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase over the $9.1 million spent during the same period last year.

Edgewise said the increase was due to more spending on clinical trials and higher employee-related costs.

The firm’s “discovery platform continues to yield differentiated precision medicines,” Edgewise CEO Kevin Koch said in a prepared statement, and the company has displayed “continued momentum for our growing pipeline.”

Edewise’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $352 million as of Dec. 31, 2022.

Edgewise’s stock finished Thursday at $9.66, trading down about 2% on the day.