On May 14, 2018 Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALPN), a company focused on discovering and developing innovative, protein-based immunotherapies targeting the immune synapse to treat cancer, autoimmune/inflammatory, and other diseases, reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 (Press release, Alpine Immune Sciences, MAY 14, 2018, View Source [SID1234526574]).
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"We are increasingly encouraged by our promising preclinical results, which demonstrate the potential of our platform to change the way we approach and treat both cancer and autoimmune/inflammatory diseases," said Mitchell H. Gold, M.D., Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alpine. "We continue to make progress on our lead programs and remain on track to file INDs for ALPN-101, a dual ICOS/CD28 antagonist for the treatment of autoimmune/inflammatory diseases in the fourth quarter of this year, and ALPN-202, our lead oncology program, in 2019."
Corporate and Scientific Development Highlights
Presentation of ALPN-202 immuno-oncology program data: Alpine’s poster at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting debuted preclinical data for the ALPN-202 program, representing a potentially novel immuno-oncology approach to the treatment of cancer. Results demonstrated molecules in the ALPN-202 program are able to antagonize PD-L1 and CTLA-4 while providing a CD28 costimulatory signal, resulting in the elimination of tumors, complete resistance to tumor rechallenge, and superiority to an approved anti PD-L1 therapeutic in a murine cancer model. The potentially unique mechanism of ALPN-202 seeks to address the lack of costimulatory activity in many current immuno-oncology therapies and may improve the immune system’s response to cancer. With preclinical results demonstrating both checkpoint blockade and immune system costimulation, Alpine’s ALPN-202 program could potentially be a more potent and broadly applicable therapeutic for the treatment of cancer.
Chris Peetz appointed to Board of Directors: On April 24, 2018, Alpine announced the appointment of Chris Peetz to its Board of Directors. Currently serving as Chief Executive Officer of Flashlight Therapeutics, Mr. Peetz is an experienced life sciences executive. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Tobira Therapeutics (acquired by Allergan in November 2016) and, prior to that, held senior management roles at Jennerex Biotherapeutics and Onyx Pharmaceuticals (now Amgen). Earlier, he was at LaSalle Corporate Finance, Abgenix, and Solazyme.
First Quarter 2018 Financial Results
Alpine ended the first quarter of 2018 with $76.7 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments compared to $81.2 million as of December 31, 2017. Net cash used in operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was $4.4 million.
Revenue for the first quarter of 2018 was $0.3 million compared to $0.7 million in the first quarter of 2017. The decrease was primarily attributable to the timing of revenue recognized under Alpine’s collaboration agreement with Kite Pharma, a Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD) company. As previously announced, under the terms of the research collaboration and license agreement with Kite, which was extended on October 30, 2017, Alpine received upfront payments of $5.5 million, which were initially recorded as deferred revenue and expensed over the period of the research term.
Research and development expenses for the first quarter of 2018 were $3.8 million compared to $1.9 million for the same period in 2017. The $1.9 million increase was primarily attributable to increased activity in preclinical studies and the addition of operational and research personnel related to expanding research and discovery programs.
General and administrative expenses for the first quarter of 2018 were $2.1 million compared to $0.9 million for the same period in 2017. The $1.2 million increase was primarily attributable to higher professional and legal service fees and increased headcount to support our operations as a public company.
Cash Guidance
The company expects to have cash to fund operations into 2020, including the clinical advancement of ALPN-101 for the treatment of autoimmune/inflammatory diseases and ALPN-202 for the treatment of cancer.