Neurocrine Biosciences Reports Third Quarter 2021 Financial Results

On November 1, 2021 Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: NBIX) reported its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021 (Press release, Neurocrine Biosciences, NOV 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234594006]).

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"Our third quarter results reflect INGREZZA’s continued growth. With this momentum and increased investment to expand our commercial footprint, we can better serve patients and our customers, and significantly improve diagnosis and treatment rates for people living with tardive dyskinesia," said Kevin Gorman, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Neurocrine Biosciences. "We are prudently investing in our advancing and growing R&D pipeline. With important clinical data read-outs expected over the next two years, we are executing well on our strategy to become a leading neuroscience-focused company."

Third Quarter INGREZZA Net Product Sales and Commercial Highlights:

Net product sales for the third quarter of 2021 were $287 million and $285 million on an inventory adjusted basis
Record total prescriptions achieved during the third quarter 2021 reflecting higher customer demand and increased commercial activities
New prescriptions increased throughout the third quarter, reaching their highest levels since March 2020
Expanding commercial organization in 2022 to establish dedicated field teams to better meet the needs of healthcare professionals across diverse sites of care and help more patients access effective treatment more quickly
Financial Highlights:

Third quarter 2021 GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share were approximately $23 million and $0.23, respectively, compared with a net loss and net loss per share of approximately $58 million and $0.62, respectively, in the third quarter of 2020
Third quarter 2021 non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share were approximately $63 million and $0.64, respectively, compared with a net loss and net loss per share of approximately $17 million and $0.18, respectively, in the third quarter of 2020
Difference between third quarter 2021 GAAP and non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share compared with the third quarter of 2020 were driven by:
Prior year In-Process Research and Development (IPR&D) associated with $118.5 million of upfront fees paid pursuant to our exclusive license agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda)
Increased R&D expense primarily due to increased investment to support advancing our pipeline programs, including our psychiatry programs in-licensed in mid-2020 and advancement of our in-licensed epilepsy programs which began at the end of 2019
Increased SG&A expense primarily due to increased investment in commercial initiatives including the launch of our INGREZZA direct-to-consumer advertising campaign, "TD Spotlight"
Third quarter 2021 provision for income taxes was approximately $8 million, compared with approximately $1 million in the third quarter of 2020. In the first quarter of 2021, the Company began recording a provision for income taxes using an effective tax rate approximating federal and state statutory rates. Due to the Company’s ability to offset its pre-tax income against previously benefited federal net operating losses, no federal cash tax is expected in 2021
At September 30, 2021, the Company had cash, cash equivalents and debt securities available-for-sale of approximately $1.3 billion
A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial results can be found in Table 3 and Table 4 at the end of this earnings release.

Recent Events

In August 2021, the Company announced plans to initiate registrational studies in the second half of 2021 with valbenazine for adjunctive treatment in schizophrenia and for dyskinesia due to cerebral palsy
In September 2021, the Company received approval of a clinical trial application (CTA) submitted in the European Union for NBI-921352 for the treatment of focal-onset seizures in adults. In connection with the approval, the Company paid Xenon a $10 million milestone, of which the Company expensed $5.4 million as R&D in the third quarter of 2021, and purchased an additional $4.6 million of Xenon’s common stock
Previously, the Company expected combined GAAP R&D and SG&A expenses in the range of $855 million to $905 million and Non-GAAP R&D and SG&A expenses in the range of $720 million to $770 million.
GAAP expense guidance range includes $10 million of IPR&D and milestone expenses, and approximately $135 million of share-based compensation, including increased share-based compensation for an equity grant to full-time employees other than executive officers in September 2021.

Conference Call and Webcast Today at 4:30 PM Eastern Time
Neurocrine Biosciences will hold a live conference call and webcast today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (1:30 p.m. Pacific Time). Participants can access the live conference call by dialing 800-895-3361 (US) or 785-424-1062 (International) using the conference ID: NBIX. The webcast can also be accessed on Neurocrine Biosciences’ website under Investors at www.neurocrine.com. A replay of the webcast will be available on the website approximately one hour after the conclusion of the event and will be archived for approximately one month.

Lilly to Participate in Bernstein’s Second Annual Operational Decisions Conference

On November 1, 2021 Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) reported that it will participate in Bernstein’s Second Annual Operational Decisions Conference on Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021 (Press release, Eli Lilly, NOV 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234594005]). Jake Van Naarden, CEO of Loxo Oncology at Lilly and president of Lilly Oncology; Mark Mintun, senior vice president, research and development – neuroscience, and president, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals; and Jamie Croaning, global development leader – tirzepatide, will participate in a virtual fireside chat at 12:30 p.m., Eastern time .

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A live audio webcast will be available on the "Webcasts & Presentations" section of Lilly’s Investor website at View Source A replay of the presentation will be available on this same website for approximately 90 days.

GT Biopharma, Inc. Corporate Presentation as of November 1, 2021

On November 1, 2021 GT Biopharma Presented its Corporate Presentation (Presentation, GT Biopharma, NOV 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234594004]).

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Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

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Data from Incyte’s Oncology Portfolio Accepted for Presentation at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 2021 Annual Meeting

On November 1, 2021 Incyte (Nasdaq:INCY) reported that multiple abstracts highlighting data from its oncology portfolio will be presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper)’s (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) 36th Annual Meeting, held from November 10-14, 2021 in Washington, D.C and virtually (Press release, Incyte, NOV 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234594002]).

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Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

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"We look forward to presenting data from multiple programs within Incyte’s immuno-oncology portfolio at this year’s SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) conference," said Lance Leopold, M.D., Group Vice President, Immuno-Oncology, Incyte. "Data being presented from the retifanlimab POD1UM clinical program, including a late-breaking poster presentation highlighting results from the POD1UM-101 study; as well as results from a Phase 1 study evaluating an oral PD-L1 inhibitor in immune-checkpoint naïve patients with advanced solid tumors, demonstrate our commitment to addressing the needs of patients with historically difficult-to-treat cancers."

Key abstracts include:

Late-Breaking Poster Presentation

Retifanlimab (INCMGA00012) in patients with recurrent MSI-H or dMMR endometrial cancer: Results from the POD1UM-101 Study (Abstract #956. Saturday, November 13, 7:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. ET)

Oral Presentation

Phase 1 study of INCB086550, an oral PD-L1 inhibitor, in immune-checkpoint naive patients with advanced solid tumors (Abstract #529. Session: Concurrent Rapid Oral Abstract Presentation: Clinical. Saturday, November 13, 12:45 – 1:45 p.m. ET)

Poster Presentation

A Phase 2 Study of Retifanlimab in Patients With Advanced or Metastatic Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC) (POD1UM-201) (Abstract #545. Friday, November 12, 7:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. ET)

Full abstracts will be available on the SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) website and in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (JITC) on November 9, 2021. More information regarding the conference is available on the SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) website: View Source

Conference Call and Webcast

Incyte will host an analyst and investor conference call and webcast on Saturday, November 13, 2021 from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. ET to discuss its oral PD-L1 clinical development program, including data from INCB86550 which has been accepted for oral presentation at the SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) Annual Congress.

The live and archived webcast will be available via investor.incyte.com.

To access the conference call, please dial 877-407-3042 for domestic callers or +1-201-389-0864 for international callers (conference identification number 13724808). If you are unable to participate, a replay will be available for 30 days. The replay dial-in number for the United States is 877-660-6853 and the dial-in number for international callers is +1-201-612-7415 (conference identification number 13724808).

Sorrento’s License Partner, Lee’s Pharmaceutical Announces NDA Filing Acceptance by NMPA for Anti-PD-L1 Antibody Socazolimab for Treatment of Recurrent or Metastatic Cervical Cancer

On November 1, 2021 Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRNE, "Sorrento") reported that its license partner, China Oncology Focus Limited (COF), an affiliate of Lee’s Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited (Lee’s Pharma, HKEX: 950) has submitted a NDA (new drug application) for the anti-PD-L1 antibody, socazolimab, licensed from Sorrento to COF for the greater China territory to treat recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer (Press release, Sorrento Therapeutics, NOV 1, 2021, View Source [SID1234594001]). The NDA application has been accepted by China NMPA.

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In February 2021, Sorrento and Lee’s Pharma announced that socazolimab had been granted breakthrough designation by the NMPA. If approved by NMPA, this will be the first approved fully human antibody discovered and isolated from Sorrento’s proprietary G-MAB library. "This is a major step forward that demonstrates the power of discovery and development engines at Sorrento for producing proprietary biopharmaceuticals for unmet medical needs," said Dr. Henry Ji, Chairman and CEO of Sorrento.

About Socazolimab

Socazolimab is a fully human anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody identified by Sorrento using its proprietary G-MAB library platform. COF received exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the antibody for Greater China, which includes Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Socazolimab has the following potential advantages over its competitors:

Fully human antibody potentially allows it to have minimal immunogenicity; demonstrated by its negative antigen-derived antibody (ADA) generation in humans in studies to date.
Potentially lower dose required to achieve efficacy compared to other anti-PD-L1 antibodies.
Dual mechanism of action observed with both immune-checkpoint inhibition and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) effect.
The antibody has been tested or is being tested in various cancer indications including recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer, maintenance therapy for high-grade osteosarcoma after adjuvant chemotherapy, locally advanced and metastatic urothelial carcinoma, extensive small cell lung cancer in combination with carboplatin and etoposide, advanced urothelial carcinoma in combination with albumin-bound paclitaxel and esophageal carcinoma.