On February 18, 2025 CEL-SCI Corporation (NYSE American: CVM) reported financial results for three months ended December 31, 2024, as well as key recent clinical and corporate developments (Press release, Cel-Sci, FEB 18, 2025, View Source [SID1234650353]).

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"CEL-SCI is very uniquely positioned at this moment as an immuno-oncology company with a vast amount of data from the largest Phase 3 head and neck cancer study ever performed, with statistically significant evidence that our drug can successfully fight cancer and extend lives in head and neck cancer," stated CEL-SCI CEO, Geert Kersten. "We hope to deliver a new standard of care to patients while substantially transforming our company’s valuation to reflect what we believe to be the intrinsic value of our cancer drug. The statistical analysis shows that our very soon to be initiated small confirmatory Registration Study has a very high chance of success and we will have indications of efficacy as early as 2026. Should the pre-surgical tumor responses mirror what we saw in the Phase 3 data, we believe we will be on the path for accelerated and/or conditional approval for Multikine next year."

Corporate and Clinical Developments include:

The U.S. FDA concurred with CEL-SCI’s plan to use of PD-L1 as a biomarker to select patients for a Phase 3 confirmatory trial. The study is designed to confirm the observation in our previous head and neck cancer Phase 3 trial that patients with low PD-L1 expression are most likely to have favorable outcomes from Multikine therapy. These patients, when treated with Multikine in the completed Phase 3 study, had a 5-year survival of 73% vs. 45% in the control group with a p-value of 0.0015. PD-L1 is a widely used biomarker for cancer patient selection for checkpoint inhibitors, which appear to work best for patients with high PD-L1 expression. Since Multikine has been shown to be more effective in patients with low PD-L1 expression, Multikine is uniquely positioned to benefit an estimated 70% of head and neck patients who have low PD-L1 expression.
The strong data from our completed Phase 3 study and the biological rationale for the use of Multikine in the treatment of head and neck cancer suggest a high likelihood of success for the confirmatory Registration Study. These data and rationale include:
Multikine shows pre-surgical tumor regression in head and neck cancer in just 3 weeks – confirmed by pathology at surgery:
Multikine led to significant rates of tumor regression prior to surgery.
There was no tumor regression observed in the control group that did not receive Multikine.
Pre-surgical tumor regressions confirmed at surgery forecast survival benefit.
The patient population for the Registration Study is likely to show significant survival prolongation.
Phase 3 Registration Study patient population selection is based on:
Strong statistical significance with respect to overall survival vs controls in 114 patients in the Phase 3 study.
Analysis of the patients in this group was pre-defined in the statistical analysis plan (SAP).
Strong biological rationale for the results seen in these patients based on Multikine’s mechanism of action (MOA) which brings about a strong and sustainable immune response and does not require overcoming PD-L1 blockade.
Ergomed, a clinical research organization (CRO) with a strong track record of fast enrollment and high-quality study delivery, is selected as the CRO for CEL-SCI’s confirmatory Registration Study. Ergomed has been a strategic partner and collaborator with CEL-SCI for over 10 years and was instrumental in successfully completing the prior Phase 3 study.
Financial Results

During the three months ended December 31, 2024, research and development expenses were $4.4 million, approximately the same as the three months ended December 31, 2023. General and administrative expenses for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 were $2.5 million compared to $2.1 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2023. Net loss was $7.1 million for three months ended December 31, 2024 compared to $6.7 million in the prior year period. Cash spent during the quarter was $5.1 million. Net loss per common share narrowed by 21% to $0.11 for the three months ended December 31, 2024, compared to $0.14 for the three months ended December 31, 2023.