On August 9, 2023 Immunome, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMNM), a biopharmaceutical company that utilizes its human memory B cell platform to discover and develop first-in-class antibody therapeutics to improve patient care, reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 and provided a corporate update (Press release, Immunome, AUG 9, 2023, View Source [SID1234634077]).
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"We believe combining Immunome and Morphimmune’s technologies represents a major step in our long-term strategy of creating a preeminent oncology therapeutics company," stated Purnanand Sarma, PhD, President and CEO of Immunome. "Targeted cancer therapies have made great strides in recent years, and the possible synergy between Morphimmune’s Targeted Effector Platform and Immunome’s proprietary Discovery Engine presents an opportunity to discover and develop truly novel therapies that can help cancer patients. We look forward to completing the merger by the end the year."
Highlights
· Immunome and Morphimmune Announce Definitive Merger Agreement and Simultaneous Private Placement Investment of $125 Million to Develop Targeted Cancer Therapies. In June 2023, Immunome and Morphimmune, a private biotechnology company focused on developing targeted oncology therapeutics, announced that the two companies entered into a definitive merger agreement. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the effectiveness of the registration statement on Form S-4 to be filed by Immunome, and the receipt of required stockholder approvals from Immunome and Morphimmune stockholders.
o The combined company, which will operate as Immunome, will feature a synergistic platform expected to enable the development of best-in-class targeted cancer therapies across multiple modalities
o Clay B. Siegall, Ph.D., current Morphimmune President & CEO and former co-founder & CEO of Seagen, Inc., to serve as Chairman and CEO of combined company
o A concurrent $125 million private placement investment with leading institutional investors will support development of a combined pipeline expected to submit three investigational new drug applications (INDs) within 18 months of closing
· Immunome Published Preclinical Research Demonstrating that Inhibition of IL-38 Using an Antibody Leads to Anti-Tumor Activity. In May 2023, Immunome announced the publication of data highlighting efficacy of its preclinical IL-38 blocking antibody, titled "IL-38 blockade induces anti-tumor immunity by abrogating tumor-mediated suppression of early immune activation," in the peer-reviewed journal mAbs. The data in the article demonstrates that antibody-based targeting of IL-38 leads to activation of the immunostimulatory anti-tumor mechanisms within the tumor microenvironment in preclinical testing.
Financial Highlights
· Collaboration Revenue: Collaboration Revenue from the Collaboration Agreement with AbbVie for the three months ended June 30, 2023 was $4.3 million.
· Research and development (R&D) expenses: R&D expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2023 were $5.7 million.
· General and administrative (G&A) expenses: G&A expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2023 were $4.2 million.
· Net loss: Net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2023 was $5.6 million, or $0.46 per share.
· Cash and cash equivalents: As of June 30, 2023, cash and cash equivalents totaled $38.4 million.