On August 4, 2022 Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. (Lyell) (Nasdaq: LYEL), a clinical‑stage T-cell reprogramming company dedicated to developing curative cell therapies for patients with solid tumors, reported financial results for the second quarter of 2022 (Press release, Lyell Immunopharma, AUG 4, 2022, View Source [SID1234617541]).
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"As a clinical stage company, we continue to make progress advancing our pipeline and growing our capabilities," said Liz Homans, CEO of Lyell Immunopharma. "Our strong financial position enables us to see our current pipeline through important milestones in evaluating T-cell exhaustion and lack of durable stemness as key barriers to successful cell therapy in patients with solid tumor cancers while also advancing next generation technologies such as T-cell rejuvenation. We have recently presented new preclinical data that further elucidate the potential of our reprogramming technologies to endow T cells with the ability to resist exhaustion and maintain properties of durable stemness, and we remain on track to announce initial clinical data in 2023 from our lead program, LYL797."
Recent Business Highlights
Presented preclinical data for LYL797, Lyell’s CAR T-cell therapy targeting ROR1+ solid tumors that incorporates Gen-R and Epi-R, at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) (Free ASGCT Whitepaper) demonstrating that Gen-R and Epi‑R reprogramming technologies can enhance and prolong anti-tumor functions of ROR1-targeting CAR T-cell therapy in solid tumor model systems.
Presented preclinical data for LYL132, a TCR therapy targeting NY-ESO-1+ solid tumors that incorporates Epi-R and is being developed in collaboration with GSK, at ASGCT (Free ASGCT Whitepaper) demonstrating that Epi-R reprogramming technology creates populations of stemlike NY-ESO-1-targeting TCR T cells that lead to products with increased proliferative capacity and prolonged functional activity in the presence of persistent antigen exposure.
Presented preclinical data at the International Society for Stem Cell Research 2022 Annual Meeting (ISSCR) demonstrating the application of Lyell’s rejuvenation technology yielded improvements in antitumor properties of engineered adoptive T-cell products as compared to non-rejuvenated T-cell controls.
Second Quarter 2022 Financial Results
Revenue
Revenue was $35.7 million and $2.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, primarily related to the recognized portion of the upfront license fee of Lyell’s Collaboration and License Agreement entered into in 2019 and amended in June 2020 and December 2021 (GSK Agreement) with GlaxoSmithKline Intellectual Property (No. 5) Limited and Glaxo Group Limited (together, GSK). The increase of $33.1 million was primarily related to recognizing $35.3 million in revenue due to a mutual agreement with GSK to conclude research activities on an undisclosed target for hematological cancers.
GAAP and Non-GAAP Operating Expenses
Lyell reported a net loss of $36.3 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to a net loss of $62.6 million for the same period in 2021. Non-GAAP net loss, which excludes non-cash stock-based compensation and non-cash expenses related to the change in the estimated fair value of success payment liabilities, was $10.3 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 compared to $38.1 million for the same period in 2021.
Research and development (R&D) expenses were $43.7 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to $46.4 million for the same period in 2021. The decrease in R&D expense was primarily driven by a reduction in the success payment liability balance, which offset increases in facilities and technology costs to support the expansion of our R&D and manufacturing capabilities. Non‑GAAP R&D expenses, which exclude non-cash stock-based compensation and non-cash expenses related to the change in the estimated fair value of success payment liabilities for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, were $35.9 million, compared to $32.1 million for the same period in 2021.
General and administrative (G&A) expenses were $30.5 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared to $19.1 million for the same period in 2021. The increase in G&A expense was primarily due to an $8.1 million increase in stock-based compensation expense, primarily related to award modifications and new awards granted. Non‑GAAP G&A expenses, which exclude non-cash stock-based compensation, for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 were $12.2 million, compared to $9.0 million for the same period in 2021. The increase in non-GAAP G&A expenses was driven by litigation-related expenses and public company operating costs.
A discussion of these non-GAAP financial measures, including reconciliations of the most comparable GAAP measures to non-GAAP financial measures, is presented below under "Non-GAAP Financial Measures."
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of June 30, 2022 were $787.0 million, compared to $898.3 million as of December 31, 2021. Lyell believes that its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balances will be sufficient to meet working capital and capital expenditure needs into 2025.