Research and development expenses were $1.5 million for the first quarter of 2020, compared with $1.7 million for first quarter of 2019. The decrease was mainly attributable to a $0.4 million decline in expense related to the Company's Phase 3 GBM trial, the lead-in portion of which was completed in December 2019, partially offset by a $0.1 million increase in manufacturing costs and a $0.1 million increase in expense related to our Phase 2 stroke trial.
General and administrative expenses were $1.3 million for the first quarter of 2020, compared with $1.2 million for the first quarter of 2019. The slight increase was mainly due to higher professional fees, salaries and wages.
Diffusion had cash and cash equivalents of $10.8 million as of March 31, 2020, compared with $14.2 million as of December 31, 2019. Subsequent to the close of the quarter, in April and May the Company received gross proceeds of $4.8 million from the exercise of 6,385,496 warrants and the exchange and exercise of another 5,000,000 warrants. Diffusion believes its cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2020, along with the warrant exercise proceeds, are sufficient to fund operating expenses and capital expenditure, including clinical trials, into the third quarter of 2021.
About Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc. is an innovative biotechnology company developing new treatments that improve the body's ability to deliver oxygen to the areas where it is needed most, offering new hope for the treatment of life-threatening medical conditions. Diffusion's lead drug trans sodium crocetinate (TSC) was originally developed in conjunction with the Office of Naval Research, which was seeking a way to treat multiple organ failure and its resulting mortality caused by the systemic hypoxemia from blood loss on the battlefield. Evolutions in research have led to Diffusion's focus today: Fueling Life by taking on some of medicine's most intractable and difficult-to-treat diseases, including multiple organ failure, stroke and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain cancer. In each of these diseases, hypoxia - oxygen deprivation of essential tissue in the body - has proved to be a significant obstacle for medical providers and is the target for TSC's novel mechanism.