GSK delivers Q2 sales of £7.6 billion -2% AER, -3% CER (Pro-forma -10% CER*)

On July 29, 2020 GSK reported Q2 sales of £7.6 billion -2% AER, -3% CER (Pro-forma -10% CER*) (Press release, GlaxoSmithKline, JUL 29, 2020, View Source [SID1234562503])

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Financial and product highlights
Reported Group sales £7.6 billion -2% AER, -3% CER (Pro-forma -10% CER*; -8% CER excluding divestments/brands under review). Pharmaceuticals £4.1 billion -5% AER, -5% CER; Vaccines £1.1 billion -29% AER, -29% CER; Consumer Healthcare £2.4 billion +25% AER, +25% CER (Pro-forma -6% CER)
H1 Reported group sales £16.7 billion 8% AER, 8% CER (Pro-forma flat CER*; +1% CER excluding divestments/brands under review)
Sales decline in Q2 2020 reflects expected disruption from COVID-19, particularly in Vaccines as well as destocking from Q1 2020 in Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Healthcare
Total Respiratory sales £883 million +17% AER, +16% CER. Trelegy sales £194 million +62% AER, +58% CER. Nucala sales £241 million +24% AER, +21% CER
Total HIV sales £1.2 billion, -2% AER, -3% CER. Dolutegravir sales £1.1 billion, -1% AER, -2% CER, two-drug regimen sales £181 million, >100% AER, >100% CER (Dovato sales £68 million, >100% AER, >100% CER, Juluca sales £113 million, +35% AER, +33% CER)
Shingrix sales £323 million, -16% AER%, -19% CER
Total Group operating margin 37.4%. Adjusted Group operating margin 22.9%, reflecting lower sales and growth in investment in R&D
Total EPS 45.5p; >100% AER, >100% CER reflecting profit on disposal of Horlicks and other Consumer Healthcare brands
Adjusted EPS 19.2p -37% AER, -38% CER reflecting lower sales and higher non-controlling interests following creation of the Consumer Healthcare JV in 2019 and a higher tax rate
Q2 net cash flow from operations £2.76 billion. Free cash flow £1.95 billion
19p dividend declared for the quarter
Guidance
Guidance for 2020 Adjusted EPS maintained; outcome is dependent in particular on timing of a recovery in vaccination rates
Pipeline highlights
Continued strengthening of the biopharma pipeline which now contains 35 medicines and 15 vaccines; over 75% of pipeline assets are focused on immunology

Three approvals in Q2: Zejula in ovarian cancer, Rukobia in HIV, Duvroq in anaemia (Japan). Expect further approval decisions for assets in Oncology and Respiratory

HIV

Cabenuva resubmitted in the US as HIV treatment; regulatory decision anticipated Q1 2021

Data showing superiority of long-acting cabotegravir versus Truvada in PrEP presented at IAS

FDA approval of Rukobia as first-in-class treatment for adults with few treatment options available

Oncology

Zejula approved by FDA for first line maintenance treatment in ovarian cancer in all comers regardless of biomarker status

Positive European CHMP opinion for belantamab mafodotin in multiple myeloma; FDA AdCom voted in favour (12-0) of risk-benefit profile with approval decision anticipated in August

Respiratory

Nucala granted priority review by FDA for hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES). Decision expected H1 2021

Vaccines

New positive Phase II data received for RSV vaccine for maternal and older adults. Data to be presented at upcoming scientific congress. Phase III study start in maternal adults planned for H2 2020

Strategic collaboration announced with CureVac on mRNA technology

GSK’s response to COVID-19
Multiple collaborations underway to develop adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccines. Phase I studies initiated by Clover Pharmaceuticals and Medicago
Announced the intention to make 1 billion doses of vaccine adjuvant available in 2021. Agreement reached with UK Government to supply up to 60 million doses of candidate Sanofi-GSK vaccine. Discussions underway with US and EU
Phase II/III study start expected in Q3 for Vir antibody for high-risk outpatients with COVID-19. Phase IIa POC study of otilimab as potential treatment for COVID-19 started

Emma Walmsley, Chief Executive Officer, GSK said:
"The fundamentals of GSK’s business remain strong and we are maintaining good momentum on our strategic priorities. This quarter, we presented promising data and had positive regulatory reviews for new speciality pipeline medicines to treat HIV and Oncology; and made further progress with our Consumer Healthcare integration and Future Ready programmes, both of which will prepare the company for separation.

"We continue to believe that multiple options will be needed to prevent and treat COVID-19 and are working at pace with our partners to develop potential adjuvanted vaccines and therapeutics to fight the virus. At the same time, we have made strategic investments in next-generation vaccine and antibody technologies, most recently through our new collaboration with CureVac.

"As expected, our performance this quarter was disrupted by COVID-19, particularly in our Vaccines business, as visits to healthcare professionals were limited due to lockdown measures. Overall, we are seeing good underlying demand for our major products and are confident this will be reflected in future performance when the impact of COVID measures eases."

Omega Therapeutics Advances Controllable Epigenomic Programming Platform to Deliver a Pipeline of Novel Therapeutics with $85M in Financing

On July 29, 2020 Omega Therapeutics, a company pioneering a new category of genomic medicine through epigenomic programming, reported the completion of an $85 million financing (Press release, Omega Therapeutics, JUL 29, 2020, View Source [SID1234562499]). The funding will support progression to first-in-human clinical trials of the company’s Epigenomic Controllers for programs in oncology, inflammation, autoimmune, metabolic, and rare genetic diseases.

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"We founded Omega with the long-term vision to create a controllable epigenomic programming platform that would identify novel epigenetic targets and therapeutically address them through a new class of genomic medicines," said Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Flagship Pioneering and Co-founder and Chairman of the Board for Omega Therapeutics. "Although human cells all share a common genetic code within their 23 pairs of chromosomes, epigenetic regulation determines identity and function at the tissue and cellular level. Coordinated changes in epigenomic programming drive the cellular variation that controls human biology, in both healthy and diseased states. Omega’s platform enables controllable and tunable epigenomic programming. It will provide patients and physicians with therapeutic alternatives to gene editing and gene therapy while offering the advantages of programmable, nucleic acid sequence-based targeting of medicines, while also avoiding the challenges of small molecule-based epigenetic approaches." Precision Genomic Control delivered through epigenomic programming. Omega’s novel engineered therapeutics, called Epigenomic Controllers, target optimal genomic loci with high specificity to deliver the required potent and durable therapeutic effect to precisely modulate or tune single or multiple genes, up or down, to unleash the human genome’s innate capacity to cure disease without altering native genomic nucleic acid codes.

"We are advancing the frontiers of medicine through epigenomic programming," said Mahesh Karande, President and Chief Executive Officer of Omega Therapeutics. "We have engineered novel therapeutics that enable controllable epigenomic programming leading to single and multiple gene modulation. We have therapeutic programs in immunology, oncology, metabolism and other disease areas where our precision genomic modulation approach allows us to go after historically ‘undruggable’ targets," Mr. Karande continued. "Our approach utilizes well-proven aspects of mRNA-based therapeutics as well as drug delivery. We are privileged to continue the Flagship tradition of pioneering innovative genomic medicine-based therapeutic platforms with the potential to generate multiple products, the first of which we plan to have ready for the clinic in 2021."

Omega’s epigenomic programming platform is focused on selectively directing the human genome to treat and cure disease by precisely controlling genomic expression without altering native nucleic acid sequences. Omega has created a proprietary platform and knowledge base that identifies Insulated Genomic Domains (IGDs) and their biological functions in both healthy and diseased states across cell types. IGDs naturally function as the fundamental regulators of the human genome and can be modulated to up-or down-regulate single or multiple genes simultaneously. These scientific and product insights drive the discovery and development of disease-specific genomic modulators called Epigenomic Controllers, which are engineered to precisely tune genomic activity to desired therapeutic levels with high targeting specificity and durability of effect.

"Our Epigenomic Controllers comprise a DNA-binding domain and an epigenetic effector domain delivered as mRNA to modulate gene expression. Besides treating monogenic diseases, our therapeutics can, for example, target and modulate difficult-to-drug oncogenes and growth factors, treat complex multi-genic diseases, and control cellular programming and differentiation," said Thomas McCauley, Ph.D., the company’s Chief Scientific Officer. "A single intervention allows us to modulate single or multiple genes to the desired therapeutically-relevant level with high specificity and a controlled duration of effect through epigenomic programming. This is Precision Genomic Control at its best."

Oncolytics Biotech® to Host Conference Call to Discuss Second Quarter Financial Results and Operational Highlights

On July 29, 2020 Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCY) (TSX: ONC) reported that it will host a conference call and webcast on Tuesday, August 4, 2020, at 4:30 pm ET to discuss a corporate update and financial results for the second quarter of 2020 (Press release, Oncolytics Biotech, JUL 29, 2020, https://ir.oncolyticsbiotech.com/news/detail/512/oncolytics-biotech-to-host-conference-call-to-discuss-second-quarter-financial-results-and-operational-highlights [SID1234562497]).

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Conference Call & Webcast

Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Time: 4:30 pm ET
Dial In – Toll-Free: 1-(866)-269-4261
Dial In – International:1-(323)-347-3612
Conference ID:2366778
Webcast: Link

A live webcast of the call will also be available on the Investor Relations page of Oncolytics’ website at www.oncolyticsbiotech.com and will be archived for three months.

Boston Scientific Announces Results For Second Quarter 2020

On July 29, 2020 Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) reported sales of $2.003 billion during the second quarter of 2020 (Press release, Boston Scientific, JUL 29, 2020, View Source [SID1234562496]). This represents a decline of (23.9) percent on a reported basis, (23.1) percent on an operational1 basis and (28.7) percent on an organic2 basis, all compared to the prior year period. The company reported a GAAP loss of $147 million or $(0.11) per share (EPS), compared to GAAP earnings of $154 million or $0.11 per share a year ago, and achieved adjusted earnings per share of $0.08 for the period, compared to $0.39 a year ago.

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"We remain focused on the safety of our team, our customers and the patients they serve, and were pleased to see the business recovering over the course of the quarter," said Mike Mahoney, chairman and chief executive officer, Boston Scientific. "With a strong pipeline of differentiated products and an agile global team, we’ll continue to execute on our strategy and make prudent decisions to position us for success as deferred procedures resume."

Second quarter financial results and recent developments:

Reported a GAAP loss of $(0.11) per share. Achieved adjusted earnings per share of $0.08. The company did not provide second quarter sales and EPS guidance due to ongoing uncertainty associated with the scope and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Second quarter sales declined in each of our reportable segments4, compared to the prior year period:

MedSurg: (29.6) percent reported, (29.1) percent operational and (28.4) percent organic
Rhythm and Neuro: (33.2) percent reported, (32.7) percent operational and (33.4) percent organic
Cardiovascular: (18.7) percent reported, (17.6) percent operational and (25.3) percent organic

Second quarter regional5 sales declined, compared to the prior year period:

U.S.: (28.4) percent reported and operational
EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa): (27.2) percent reported and (25.6) percent operational
APAC (Asia-Pacific): (14.8) percent reported and (14.0) percent operational
Emerging Markets3: (19.7) percent reported and (14.6) percent operational

Received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the WATCHMAN FLX Left Atrial Appendage Closure (LAAC) Device which is indicated to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. This next-generation implant is the first LAAC device that can be fully recaptured, repositioned and redeployed in the left atrial appendage, with additional design features to enhance safety and performance while treating a wider range of patient anatomies than the previous WATCHMAN LAAC device.
Received FDA approval for the SYNERGY XD Bioabsorbable Polymer (BP) Drug-Eluting Stent (DES) System, the next-generation SYNERGY BP-DES platform with the only 48 mm length DES available in the U.S. and enhanced deliverability features to enable improved arterial navigation in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) cases. The system was recently launched in Japan following approval from the Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA).
Received FDA 510(k) clearance and began limited market release for the LUX-Dx Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) System, a new, long-term diagnostic device implanted in patients to detect arrythmias associated with conditions such as atrial fibrillation (AF), cryptogenic stroke and syncope. The LUX-Dx ICM System can be programmed remotely and have settings adjusted without requiring patients to visit their physician’s office and is designed with a dual-stage algorithm that detects and then verifies potential arrhythmias before an alert is sent to clinicians.
Received approval for the Eluvia Drug-Eluting Vascular Stent System from China’s Center for Medical Device Evaluation and will begin a limited market release by the end of the year. Also announced results of a sub-study of patients from the IMPERIAL trial who were treated with the Eluvia stent during the 2020 Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) Late-Breaking Clinical Trials Livestream event. Data demonstrated the Eluvia stent offers durable and consistent results in complex and long lesions, with an average lesion length of 162.8 mm and that patients treated with the Eluvia stent had a 77.2% Kaplan-Meier primary patency rate, a 13.6% clinically-driven target lesion revascularization rate and no stent thrombosis, despite long, heavily calcified lesions.
Received CE Mark and began limited European release for the INTELLANAV STABLEPOINT Ablation Catheter enabled with DIRECTSENSE Technology. This first-of-its-kind catheter combines measures of mechanical contact, or contact force, with local impedance to provide insight into the cardiac tissue’s response to ablation.
Received Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approval for a new transitional pass-through (TPT) payment category to describe single-use endoscopes, including the EXALT Model D Single-Use Duodenoscope, to facilitate Medicare beneficiary access to the advantages of new and innovative devices by allowing for adequate payment while cost data is collected, starting July 1, 2020. The EXALT duodenoscope is the world’s first and only single-use, flexible duodenoscope cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which eliminates the risk of infection from inadequate scope reprocessing between procedures.
Presented positive findings from the largest reported clinical experience to date with the LOTUS Edge Aortic Valve System at TVT Connect. Data from a pre-specified interim analysis of the first 50 patients enrolled in the European RESPOND EDGE post-market registry demonstrated no reports of mortality, no repeat procedures for valve-related dysfunction or re-hospitalization for valve-related symptoms and excellent valve hemodynamics, the lowest PVL rates in this valve category and a reduced permanent pacemaker implantation rate in line with competitive valves in real-world experience.
Commenced enrollment of the FROZEN-AF investigational device exemption (IDE) clinical trial which will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the POLARx Cryoablation System for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), an intermittent form of AF which causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate.
Announced at HRS 2020 Science final results from the UNTOUCHED study of the EMBLEM Subcutaneous Implantable Defibrillator (S-ICD) System, the only FDA-approved implantable defibrillator without wires touching the heart, demonstrating high efficacy and safety of the device and a lower rate of inappropriate shock than many similar devices. Also presented as a late-breaking clinical trial at the virtual meeting were results from the investigator-sponsored PRAETORIAN trial confirming that the S-ICD can be the preferred therapy choice for the majority of ICD-indicated patients without a need for pacing.
Published a meta-analysis of 1,011 prostate cancer patients in The Journal of the American Medicine Association (JAMA) Network Open which found that placing SpaceOAR Hydrogel before radiation is an effective preventative strategy to reduce treatment-induced rectal complications. Each year, more than 1.1 million men are diagnosed with prostate cancer worldwide and approximately 400,000 men will undergo prostate radiotherapy. Recently, SpaceOAR surpassed 100,000 patients treated worldwide.
Announced The Lancet Neurology publication of the INTREPID study—a double-blind, randomized study evaluating the Vercise Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) system for Parkinson’s disease. One-year results demonstrated a significant 51% improvement in motor symptoms (UDPRS III scores) compared to pre-surgery screening and six additional hours of ON time – or daily symptom control – over medication.
Launched a multi-year program to combat racism, inequity and injustice, including $3.5 million in philanthropic commitments, focused on five pillars: community, economic empowerment, education, healthcare disparities and government/legislative change.
Increased financial flexibility by completing a public offering of $1.7 billion aggregate principal amount of Senior Notes, as well as completing an approximately $2.0 billion public offering of common stock and mandatory convertible preferred stock, and using a portion of the proceeds of both offerings to repay borrowings under our revolving credit facility and a significant portion of our pre-payable bank debt.

1. Operational revenue growth excludes the impact of foreign currency fluctuations.

2. Organic revenue growth excludes the impact of foreign currency fluctuations and sales from the recent acquisitions of Vertiflex, Inc. and BTG plc (BTG), each with no prior year comparable sales. Organic revenue growth also excludes the impact of the divestiture of our global embolic microspheres portfolio, a transaction entered into in connection with obtaining the antitrust clearances required to complete the BTG transaction, as well as the Q2 divestiture of our intrauterine health franchise.

3. We define Emerging Markets as the 20 countries that we believe have strong growth potential based on their economic conditions, healthcare sectors and our global capabilities.

4. We have three historical reportable segments comprised of Medical Surgical (MedSurg), Rhythm and Neuro, and Cardiovascular, which represent an aggregation of our operating segments that generate revenues from the sale of medical devices (Medical Devices). As part of our acquisition of BTG on August 19, 2019, we acquired an Interventional Medicine business, which is now included in our Peripheral Interventions operating segment’s revenues from the date of acquisition.

5. As part of our acquisition of BTG on August 19, 2019, we acquired a specialty pharmaceuticals business (Specialty Pharmaceuticals). Subsequent to acquisition, Specialty Pharmaceuticals is now a stand-alone operating segment presented alongside our Medical Device reportable segments. Specialty Pharmaceuticals net sales are substantially U.S. based. Our chief operating decision maker (CODM) reviews financial information of our globally managed Specialty Pharmaceuticals operating segment at the worldwide level without further disaggregation into regional results. As such, Specialty Pharmaceuticals net sales are presented globally, and our Medical Devices reportable segments regional net sales results do not include Specialty Pharmaceuticals.

Conference Call Information

Boston Scientific management will be discussing these results with analysts on a conference call today at 8:00 a.m. EDT. The company will webcast the call to interested parties through its website: www.bostonscientific.com. Please see the website for details on how to access the webcast. The webcast will be available for approximately one year on the Boston Scientific website.

Sunesis Announces Pricing of $12 Million Offering of Common Stock

On July 29, 2020 Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNSS) reported the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 52,173,913 shares of its common stock (Press release, Sunesis, JUL 29, 2020, View Source [SID1234562495]). The public offering price of each share of common stock is $0.23.

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Sunesis expects to receive gross proceeds of approximately $12 million from this offering, before deducting the underwriting discounts and estimated offering expenses. Sunesis has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 7,826,086 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. This offering is expected to close on or about July 31, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions. Sunesis anticipates using the net proceeds from the proposed offering to fund ongoing development of PDK1 inhibitor SNS-510 and general corporate purposes.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. is acting as the sole book-running manager in this offering.

The securities described above are being offered by Sunesis pursuant to a shelf registration statement previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), originally filed with the SEC on June 8, 2017 and which the SEC declared effective on November 21, 2017. A preliminary prospectus supplement related to the offering has been filed with the SEC and a final prospectus supplement related to the offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at View Source Copies of the preliminary and final prospectus supplements and the accompanying prospectus relating to this offering, when available, may be obtained on the SEC’s website or from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Attention: Syndicate Prospectus Department, 85 Broad Street, 26th Floor, New York, New York 10004, by telephone at 212-667-8055, or by email at [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.