On May 4, 2023 BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBIO) (BridgeBio or the Company), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on genetic diseases and cancers, reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 and provided an update on the Company’s operations (Press release, BridgeBio, MAY 4, 2023, View Source [SID1234631017]).
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"We were excited to announce the results from the 5th cohort of our Phase 2 trial of infigratinib for achondroplasia – an oral agent with a well-tolerated safety profile and best-in-class efficacy to date," said Neil Kumar, Ph.D., founder and CEO of BridgeBio. "We thank the children and physicians who have partnered with us on this study and are eager to take the next steps for this program together. Infigratinib pairs with our ADH1 program, which reads out its Phase 3 next year, to form a high-quality endocrine franchise that we are continuing to build out. With this dataset for achondroplasia in hand, we look forward to July and the next big readout from our pipeline, the 30-month data from our ATTR-CM Phase 3 trial of acoramidis that recently completed last patient last visit. We thank the ATTR-CM patient and physician communities who made this trial possible, and we look forward to sharing the results with you."
BridgeBio’s key programs:
Acoramidis (AG10) – Transthyretin (TTR) stabilizer for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM):
The Phase 3 ATTRibute-CM study has completed last patient last visit.
The Company expects to announce topline registrational data for the month 30 primary endpoint, a hierarchical composite including all-cause mortality and cardiovascular-related hospitalizations, in late July, 2023.
Low-dose infigratinib – FGFR1-3 inhibitor for achondroplasia and hypochondroplasia:
In March 2023, the Company reported data from the fifth dosing cohort of the Phase 2 dose-escalation trial PROPEL 2, demonstrating a mean change from baseline in annualized height velocity (AHV) of +3.03 cm/year for the ten children that have had six-month visits.
80% of the ten children with six-month visits in the fifth cohort were responders, as defined by an increase from baseline AHV of at least 25%.
As a result of treatment, the median absolute AHV reached 7.6 cm/yr, which is beyond the 99th percentile of growth for children living with achondroplasia.
Combined with the previously reported Cohort 4 change from baseline in AHV value of +1.52 cm/yr, the Cohort 5 data demonstrate a strong dose response for infigratinib.
To date, the study has shown a well-tolerated safety profile, with no study drug related treatment emergent adverse events (TEAEs) in Cohort 5. No serious adverse events (SAEs) or discontinuations due to AEs were reported in any cohort.
The Company has begun enrolling children in the run-in for a registrational Phase 3 trial.
The Company believes infigratinib, if approved, has the potential to capture a significant share of the market based on blinded market research.
BBP-418 – Glycosylation substrate for limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2I (LGMD2I):
The Company announced development of a validated novel bioassay that directly measures glycosylated αDG, which is central to LGMD2I disease and enables monitoring of responses to disease-modifying therapies in LGMD2I patients.
The Company also reported positive 15-month results from the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial in October 2022, showing a doubling of glycosylated αDG in LGMD2I patients treated with BBP-418; a sustained decrease of ≥70% in creatine kinase (CK), a marker of muscle breakdown; and improvements in ambulatory and clinical function measures after 15 months of treatment.
The Company intends to initiate a global Phase 3 registrational trial of BBP-418 for LGMD2I in mid-2023, and has engaged with regulatory authorities to align on a trial design.
BBP-418 has a potentially-addressable population of 7,000 patients in the United States and European Union.
There are currently no disease-modifying treatments available for LGMD2I.
Encaleret – Calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) inhibitor for autosomal dominant hypocalcemia type 1 (ADH1):
The pivotal Phase 3 CALIBRATE trial of encaleret for ADH1 continues to proceed.
Population genetics analyses estimate approximately 25,000 carriers of gain-of-function variants of the CaSR, the underlying cause of ADH1, in the United States and European Union.
The Company anticipates sharing topline data from CALIBRATE in the first half of 2024.
If approved, encaleret could be the first therapy specifically indicated for the treatment of ADH1.
BBP-631 – AAV5 gene therapy candidate for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH):
The Phase 1/2 gene therapy trial of BBP-631 for CAH continued to progress; as of February 1, 2023, BBP-631 has been generally well-tolerated in four patients treated at the first two dose levels.
The Company plans to provide a data update by the end of 2023.
CAH is one of the most prevalent genetic diseases potentially addressable with adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy, with more than 75,000 cases estimated in the United States and European Union.
RAS cancer portfolio:
BridgeBio is continuing to develop the three main programs of its RAS franchise:
BBO-8520, an investigational, next-generation small molecule direct KRASG12C(ON) inhibitor candidate that is designed to directly bind and inhibit KRASG12C in both its ON (GTP-bound) and OFF (GDP-bound) conformations, which remains on track to file an IND and enter the clinic in the second half of 2023.
A PI3Kα:RAS breaker program, investigational small molecules that are designed to block Ras-driven PI3Kα activation with a novel and potentially broad mechanism of action to target not only PI3Kα mutant tumors and RAS mutant tumors, but potentially other tumors driven by RTK activation of RAS signaling. The Company remains on track to select a development candidate in 2023, with IND filing to follow in 2024.
The Company’s pan-KRAS program, which targets multiple KRAS mutants including KRASG12D and KRASG12V, which are present in a large percentage of colorectal, pancreatic, and non-small cell lung cancer tumors. Development candidate selection for this program is planned for late 2023 or early 2024.
Corporate Update:
Follow-on offering:
The Company closed an underwritten public offering of shares of its common stock with gross proceeds of approximately $150 million.
First Quarter 2023 Financial Results:
Cash, Cash Equivalents, Marketable Securities and Restricted Cash (Current)
Cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities and restricted cash (current), totaled $467.0 million as of March 31, 2023, compared to $466.2 million as of December 31, 2022. The net increase of $0.8 million in cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities and restricted cash (current) is primarily attributable to the net proceeds received of $143.0 million from the follow-on public offering, and proceeds from common stock issuance under ESPP and stock option exercises of $2.0 million, partially offset by net cash used in operating activities of $144.3 million.
Operating Costs and Expenses
Operating costs and expenses decreased by $47.4 million to $128.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, compared to $175.4 million for the same period in the prior year. The overall decrease in operating costs and expenses for the first quarter of 2023 compared to the comparative period was mainly due to decreases in research, development and other (R&D) expenses of $15.5 million resulting from the Company’s reprioritization of its R&D programs; selling, general and administrative expenses of $12.6 million resulting from its company-wide streamlining of costs; and restructuring, impairment and related charges of $19.3 million since the majority of the restructuring initiatives were initiated in the first quarter of 2022. The effects of the Company’s restructuring initiative that was started in the first quarter of 2022 are continuing to be realized due to the Company’s reductions in its operating costs and expenses. Restructuring, impairment and related charges for the three months ended March 31, 2023 of $3.4 million, were primarily comprised of winding down, exit and other related costs. Restructuring, impairment and related charges for the same period in prior year were $22.7 million, were primarily related to impairments and write-offs of long-lived assets, severance and employee-related costs, and exit and other related costs. The Company continues to evaluate restructuring alternatives to drive operational changes in business processes, efficiencies, and cost savings.
Stock-based compensation expenses included in operating costs and expenses for the first quarter of 2023 were $23.5 million, of which $11.8 million is included in research, development and other (R&D) expenses, $11.7 million is included in selling, general and administrative expenses, and nil is included in restructuring, impairment and related charges. Stock-based compensation expenses included in operating costs and expenses for the first quarter of 2022 were $24.3 million, of which $8.6 million is included in research, development and other (R&D) expenses, $14.6 million is included in selling, general and administrative expenses, and $1.2 million is included in restructuring, impairment and related charges.
"Strengthening our balance sheet through our recent $150 million follow-on offering extends our runway into the second half of 2024, and puts us in a strong position to take advantage of our optionality as we head into this summer’s ATTR-CM readout," said Brian Stephenson, Ph.D., CFA, Chief Financial Officer of BridgeBio. "We will continue to explore ways to extend our runway further through considering potential partnerships and royalty transactions."