On November 4, 2021 Athenex, Inc., (NASDAQ: ATNX), a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and related conditions, reported a corporate and financial update for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021 (Press release, Athenex, NOV 4, 2021, View Source [SID1234594456]).

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

"Following our recent Type A meeting with U.S. FDA to discuss our New Drug Application for oral paclitaxel and encequidar (Oral Paclitaxel) in metastatic breast cancer, we determined that deploying our resources towards other ongoing clinical programs of Oral Paclitaxel and our cell therapy programs would be a better way to maximize value for all of our shareholders and stakeholders," said Johnson Lau, Chief Executive Officer of Athenex. "Our management team is focused on advancing the clinical pipeline where we believe Athenex has a strong competitive advantage, as well as exploring various other approaches for our assets that will unlock shareholder value. We are particularly pleased with the continued positive momentum and increasing visibility of our cell therapy programs."

Third Quarter 2021 and Recent Business Highlights

Clinical Programs

Orascovery

Held a Type A meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the New Drug Application (NDA) for Oral Paclitaxel in metastatic breast cancer.
Presented positive interim data from a Phase 1 trial evaluating Oral Paclitaxel in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced solid malignancies at ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) 2021.
Received confirmation from the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP) in the UK that encequidar in combination with oral anticancer medicines has been awarded the innovative medicine designation, the Innovation Passport. ILAP was set up by the UK Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and other UK government agencies to efficiently accelerate the time to market and facilitating patient access to innovative medicines.
Cell Therapy

Interim data from the ongoing Phase 1 ANCHOR trial evaluating KUR-502 in patients with CD19-positive relapsed or refractory lymphoma and leukemia have been accepted for poster presentation at the 2021 ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) Annual Meeting.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office allowed patent claims around the NKT cellular immunotherapy platform developed by Athenex and the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital.
Opened enrollment in Phase 1 trial to evaluate TCRT-ESO-A2 (high-affinity TCR-T targeting NY-ESO-1 solid tumors).
Commercial Update

Klisyri (tirbanibulin)

Athenex’s partner, Almirall (Almirall, S.A., BME: ALM), launched Klisyri (tirbanibulin) in Germany and the UK. Klisyri received approval by the European Commission and the UK MHRA in July and August of 2021, respectively, for the topical treatment of actinic keratosis (AK) of the face and scalp in adults.
Specialty Pharmaceutical Business

Athenex Pharmaceutical Division (APD) currently markets a total of 33 products with 64 SKUs.
Athenex Pharma Solutions (APS) currently markets 5 products with 16 SKUs.
Corporate

Dr. Michael Smolinski promoted to Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Smolinski has been with Athenex for 13 years and previously served as Vice President of Preclinical Operations.
Key Anticipated Milestones

ANCHOR Phase 1 poster presentation at 2021 ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) in December
Results from the I-SPY 2 trial of oral paclitaxel plus anti PD-1 expected in 2022
Almirall to continue phased roll-out of Klisyri in other European countries in 2022
Third Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights

Revenues from product sales increased to $27.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021, from $24.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020, an increase of $2.2 million or 9%. This increase was primarily attributable to an increase in 503B product sales of $2.1 million as the result of the increase in demand for certain drugs used to treat patients hospitalized with COVID-19. API product sales and contract manufacturing sales each experienced an increase of $0.4 million. These increases were offset by a decrease in APD product sales of $0.7 million, resulting primarily from a significant prior year increase in demand for COVID-19 related drugs and for FDA shortage products during 2020, including some significant non-recurring orders.

License fees and other revenue decreased by $5.4 million, for the three months ended September 30, 2021. This decrease was primarily due to the recognition of $5.1 million in license and royalty revenue from Almirall for the launch of Klisyri in Europe in September 2021, while we recognized $10.4 million in license revenue during the three months ended September 30, 2020, pursuant to license agreements with Xiangxue and PharmaEssentia.

Cost of sales for the three months ended September 30, 2021 totaled $25.6 million, an increase of $1.1 million, or 5%, as compared to $24.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020. The increase was primarily due to an increase of $2.9 million in cost of 503B product sales as production levels increased. Cost of APD product sales increased by $0.9 million, while the cost of API product sales decreased by $0.1 million. Additionally, cost of sales related to royalties for license income decreased by $2.5 million due to the royalty payment that incurred in 2020 on the license revenue from Xiangxue.

R&D expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2021 totaled $17.7 million, a decrease of $0.7 million, or 4%, as compared to $18.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020. This was primarily due to a decrease in costs of clinical operations of $2.4 million after the completion of the Phase 3 studies for tirbanibulin ointment and Oral Paclitaxel, a decrease in Oral Paclitaxel product development and medical affairs costs of $1.8 million incurred in connection with the potential product launch, a decrease in costs of preclinical operations of $1.0 million, and a decrease in R&D related compensation expenses of $0.4 million. The decrease in these R&D expenses was partially offset by a $2.6 million increase in cell therapy development costs, a $2.0 million increase in drug licensing costs related to licenses for specialty drug products, and a $0.3 million increase in costs of other product development.

SG&A expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2021 totaled $22.8 million, an increase of $0.6 million, or 3%, as compared to $22.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020. This was primarily due to a $3.2 million increase from the change in fair value of contingent consideration, a $2.1 million increase in operating costs including insurance and IT costs and professional fees, a $1.9 million increase in compensation related costs, and a $1.1 million increase in site preparation costs related to the manufacturing facility in Dunkirk. The increase was partially offset by a $7.7 million decrease in costs for preparing to commercialize Oral Paclitaxel as significant pre-launch activities occurred in 2020 and slowed upon receipt of the Complete Response Letter in February 2021.

Interest expense totaled $5.1 million and $3.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Interest expense in the current period was incurred from the Senior Credit Agreement with Oaktree, while interest expense in the prior period was primarily incurred from debt under a former credit agreement with Perceptive Advisors LLC and its affiliates.

Income tax expense for the three months ended September 30, 2021 amounted to $0.3 million, compared to income tax expense of $1.1 million for the same period in 2020. The income tax expense in the prior year was primarily attributable to foreign income tax withholdings on our revenue earned under our out-license arrangements.

Net loss attributable to Athenex for the third quarter was $36.1 million or 33 cents per diluted share, as compared to a net loss of $36.8 million or 44 cents per diluted share, for the same period in 2020.

For further details on the Company’s financial results, including the results for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, refer to the Form 10Q filed with the SEC.

Financial Guidance

In terms of product sales guidance, the Company is limiting financial guidance to the existing Athenex product portfolio only. In 2020, the Company recorded a significant amount of revenues from international customers as a result of the global pandemic. However, it does not see these revenues as recurring in nature. In the first nine months of 2021, the Company experienced significant COVID-related challenges in our Indian supply chain and to a lesser extent China, which slowed down APD product sales during the period. As a result, the Company now expects its full year product sales in 2021, excluding any royalties from Klisyri, to decline by 6% to 12% year-over-year compared with 2020 levels.

Cash Conservation Update

As of September 30, 2021, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $73.6 million, restricted cash of $16.5 million, and short-term investments of $14.9 million, for a total of $105.0 million. Given the earlier uncertainty stemming from the CRL for Oral Paclitaxel in metastatic breast cancer, the Company has already identified and adopted certain cash conservation measures. The Company is seeking additional cash conservation and funding opportunities to further extend the cash runway.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Athenex will host a conference call and live audio webcast today, Thursday, November 4, 2021, at 10:00 am Eastern Time to discuss the financial results and provide a business update.

To participate in the call, dial either the domestic or international number fifteen minutes before the conference call begins: