On March 13, 2025 Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLRB), a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of cancer, reported financial results for the year ended December 31, 2024, and provided a corporate update (Press release, Cellectar Biosciences, MAR 13, 2025, View Source [SID1234651125]).
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"In 2024 the company showcased the efficacy and safety of iopofosine I 131 for the treatment of relapsed/refractory Waldenström macroglobulinemia. We recently completed a productive meeting with the FDA that established a clear regulatory pathway for the accelerated approval of this promising drug. Based upon this regulatory clarity, the quality of the CLOVER-WaM data, and a robust global market opportunity, we continue to evaluate inbound inquiries regarding a range of collaborations for iopofosine I 131, which we view as an attractive, non-dilutive funding approach." said James Caruso, president and CEO of Cellectar. "In addition, the company received clearance for an IND for our Auger-emitting radioconjugate and will be submitting an IND application for our alpha-emitting radioconjugate. By the middle of 2025 we will be prepared to advance into phase 1 clinical studies for both compounds, in triple negative breast cancer and pancreatic cancer indications, respectively."
2024 and Recent Corporate Highlights
· Finalized confirmatory study design and regulatory pathway for potential FDA accelerated approval of iopofosine I 131, the Company’s targeted radiotherapeutic candidate for the treatment of relapsed/refractory WM.
o The study will be a randomized, controlled trial of iopofosine I 131 versus a comparator arm, with 100 patients per arm.
o Two-stage approval process includes conditional accelerated approval based on a major response rate (MRR) endpoint with full approval based upon achieving a progression-free survival endpoint.
o Company expects to complete full patient enrollment within 24 months of the first patient admitted to the study.
o Total study cost is expected to be between $40M-$45M, with approximately $30M to full enrollment.
· Presented data from the Phase 2 CLOVER-WaM study in an oral session at the 66th American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) Annual Meeting and Exposition (ASH 2024) in December. The oral presentation highlighted that treatment with iopofosine I 131 in patients suffering from relapsed/refractory WM demonstrated:
o overall Response Rate (ORR) was 83.6%;
o major Response Rate (MRR) was 58.2%, which exceeded the FDA agreed-upon primary endpoint of 20% MRR;
o durable efficacy in previously treated WM patients, with no current standard of care therapy;
o well tolerated with a manageable toxicity profile across broad biologic and clinical subgroups.
· An article published in the journal eBioMedicine, volume 111, 2025, 105496, ISSN 2352-3964 from a SPORE Grant-supported, investigator-led study utilizing iopofosine I 131 (also known as CLR 131) in combination with external beam radiation, reported the best overall response from 11 evaluable patients included seven participants with a complete response (63.6%), one with a partial response (9%), one with stable disease (9%), and two with disease progression (18%), further supporting iopofosine I 131’s therapeutic benefit in solid tumors.
· Continued development of CLR 121225 and CLR 121125, the Company’s pre-clinical radioconjugate assets, to support Phase 1 solid tumor studies:
o The company is prepared to initiate a Phase 1b/2a dose-finding study with CLR 121125 in triple-negative breast cancer. CLR 121125 is the company’s lead Auger-emitting (iodine-125) Phospholipid Radioconjugate (PRC) that provides the greatest precision in targeted radiotherapy as emissions only travel a few nanometers.
o The company plans to file an IND application in the first half of 2025 for CLR 121225. CLR 121225 is Cellectar’ s lead alpha-emitting (actinium-225) PRC, which has demonstrated activity in multiple solid tumor animal models, including pancreatic and colorectal cancer.
2024 Financial Highlights
· Cash and Cash Equivalents: As of December 31, 2024, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $23.3 million, compared to $9.6 million as of December 31, 2023. In 2024, Cellectar executed multiple financial transactions, including investors’ exercise of warrants in January 2024 that generated $44.1 million, and an inducement financing in July 2024, which included the exercise of existing warrants and the purchase of new warrants for an additional $19.4 million. The company believes its cash balance as of December 31, 2024, is adequate to fund its basic budgeted operations into the fourth quarter of 2025.
· Research and Development Expenses: R&D expenses for the year ended December 31, 2024, were approximately $26.1 million, compared to approximately $27.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily a result of the timing of expenditures for our WM Phase 2 study to support final patient visits, partially offset by the extensive analytic work necessary to prepare for a planned regulatory submission, product sourcing, manufacturing, and logistics infrastructure costs to support multi sourcing for each aspect of iopofosine I 131 production.
· General and Administrative Expenses: G&A expenses for the year ended December 31, 2024, were approximately $25.6 million, compared to approximately $11.7 million for the same period in 2023. The increase was primarily driven by costs associated with the development of infrastructure necessary to support potential commercialization, including the related marketing and personnel costs.
· Other income and expense: Other income and expense, net, was approximately $7.3 million of income in 2024, as compared to approximately $3.9 million of expense in the prior year. These amounts are almost exclusively non-cash and driven by the issuance and valuation of equity securities in conjunction with financing activities. The only cash impact was interest income, which for 2024 improved to approximately $1.2 million from $0.4 million in the prior year.
· Net Loss: Net loss for the full year ending December 31, 2024, was $44.6 million or $1.22 per basic share and $1.40 per diluted share, compared with $42.8 million or $3.50 per basic and diluted share during 2023.
Conference Call & Webcast Details
Cellectar management will host a conference call and webcast today, March 13, 2024, at 8:30 AM Eastern Time to discuss these results and answer questions. Stockholders and other interested parties may participate in the conference call by dialing 1-800-717-1738. A live webcast of the conference call can be accessed in the "Events & Presentations" section of Cellectar’s website at www.cellectar.com. A recording of the webcast will be available and archived on the Company’s website for approximately 90 days.