On April 30, 2020 Genocea Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNCA), a biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation neoantigen immunotherapies, reported its operating and financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020 (Press release, Genocea Biosciences, APR 30, 2020, View Source [SID1234556824]).

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Genocea remains on track with its two differentiated clinical stage programs – GEN-009 (neoantigen vaccine) and GEN-011 (neoantigen cell therapy). The GEN-009 phase 1/2a clinical trial has reached sufficient enrollment for Part B of the study, which evaluates GEN-009 in combination with standard-of-care ICI therapy. The company anticipates preliminary clinical results in Q3 2020. Genocea also intends to file an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for GEN-011 later this quarter with preliminary clinical results expected in 1H 2021.

Genocea will host a GEN-011 virtual symposium on May 12th at 12 p.m. EDT with Eric Tran, PhD, who generated transformational data showing the potential of TIL therapy as a National Cancer Institute (NCI) fellow. Dr. Tran will provide a brief overview of the current T cell therapy landscape – including the evolution of adoptive cell therapy and the need for new approaches to improve patient outcomes. Genocea will provide an in-depth profile of GEN-011 – a potential best-in-class adoptive T cell therapy -targeting an unprecedented breadth of relevant neoantigens, avoiding unwanted expansion of deleterious T cells and employing peripheral blood in a rapidly scalable manufacturing process to treat large cancer patient populations.

"Over the last quarter, we have conducted our GEN-009 clinical program and prepared GEN-011 for IND filing as planned," said Chip Clark, President and Chief Executive Officer, Genocea. "We remain focused on the opportunity to create life-changing medicines for cancer patients during these uncertain and challenging times."

First Quarter 2020 Financial Results
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Cash position: As of March 31, 2020, cash and cash equivalents were $26.5 million versus $40.1 million as of December 31, 2019.
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Research and Development (R&D) expenses: R&D expenses were $10.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, compared to $6.5 million for the same period in 2019.
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General and Administrative (G&A) expenses: G&A expenses were $3.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, compared to $3.0 million for the same period in 2019.
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Net loss: Net loss was $12.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, compared to $15.6 million for the same period in 2019.

Guidance
Genocea expects that its existing cash and cash equivalents are sufficient to support its operations into the first quarter of 2021.

Conference Call
Genocea will host a conference call and webcast today at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Interested participants may access the conference call by dialing (844) 826-0619 (domestic) or (315) 625-6883 (international) and referring to conference ID number 4855738. To join the live webcast, please visit the presentation page of the investor relations section of the Genocea website at View Source A webcast replay of the conference call will be available on the Genocea website beginning approximately two hours after the event and will be archived for 90 days.