On March 2, 2018 Heat Biologics, Inc. ("Heat") (Nasdaq: HTBX), a biopharmaceutical company developing drugs designed to activate a patient’s immune system against cancer, reported financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 (Press release, Heat Biologics, MAR 2, 2018, View Source [SID1234524339]).
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"2017 was a significant year for Heat, as we gained traction on our pipeline developments for both Heat and our subsidiary, Pelican Therapeutics," said Jeff Wolf, CEO of Heat. "Our focus for 2018 will be to continue to generate and report on data to progress HS-110 into registrational trials, advance our PTX-35 into clinical trials, and secure partnerships to enhance our efforts. We look forward to continued progress as we continue to build a leading immunotherapy company."
Fiscal Year 2017 Corporate Highlights
On December 7, 2017, we received written responses from the FDA following a Type C meeting regarding the planned registrational HS-110 clinical trial design for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The response focused on proposed Phase 3 trial designs, both single-arm and controlled, which the FDA agreed would be appropriate to support a registrational trial of HS-110. Clinical endpoints and post-marketing commitments were also discussed in the context of accelerated approval.
On October 30, 2017, Heat subsidiary Pelican Therapeutics ("Pelican") received the second tranche in the amount of $6.5 million of its $15.2 million CPRIT grant award. The CPRIT award supports the pre-clinical development, manufacturing and clinical development of a 70-patient Phase 1 clinical trial for PTX-35.
On September 27, 2017, we announced a manufacturing agreement with KBI Biopharma, Inc. a global biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization, for cGMP production of Pelican’s PTX-35 antibody and PTX-15 fusion protein.
On May 1, 2017, we announced the completion of the acquisition of an 80 percent controlling interest in Pelican.
On March 21, 2017, we reported promising interim results for the Phase 1b portion of the trial evaluating HS-110 in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb’s checkpoint inhibitor, nivolumab (Opdivo), for the treatment of advanced NSCLC.
2018 Additional Development
On February 27, 2018, at the 2018 Keystone Symposia Conference, Immunological Memory: Innate, Adaptive and Beyond (X1), we presented interim results from our Phase 2 study investigating HS-110 in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb’s anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, nivolumab (Opdivo), in patients with advanced NSCLC, whose cancers have progressed after treatment with one or more lines of therapy. Data are consistent with HS-110 mechanism-of-action, with tumor shrinkage and disease control demonstrated in a majority of evaluable patients. The HS-110 and nivolumab combination also shows durable responses in both difficult-to-treat, low TIL "cold tumor" patients, as well as low PD-L1 patients who typically do not respond to checkpoint inhibitors.
Fiscal Year 2017 Financial Highlights
Total operating expenses increased 10.4% to $14.9 million, compared to $13.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. For the year ended December 31, 2017, operating expenses are primarily comprised of research and development, general and administrative expenses, as well as change in the fair value of contingent consideration due to the Company’s acquisition of 80% controlling interest in Pelican during the year.