On November 9, 2016 Immune Design (Nasdaq:IMDZ), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on oncology, reported financial results and a corporate update for the third quarter ended September 30, 2016 (Press release, Immune Design, NOV 9, 2016, View Source [SID1234516561]).
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"During the third quarter, we continued enrollment of our clinical programs, recruited senior leadership with late-stage oncology development expertise, and advanced the range of future potential products from our differentiated ZVex platform," said Carlos Paya, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Immune Design. "Backed by both new and existing investors who participated in our recent financing, we are focused on delivering meaningful results in both of our approaches in 2017."
Recent Highlights
Product Development: Continued progress on all programs from ZVex and GLAASTM platforms
Antigen Specific: CMB305 Program
CMB305, the novel prime-boost NY-ESO-1 cancer vaccine using the ZVex platform, is being evaluated in soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients both as a potential monotherapy and in combination with an anti-PD-L1 antibody.
CMB305 monotherapy:
Follow-up continues on the two fully enrolled monotherapy Phase 1 trials (CMB305; n=24 patients, and its vector-only component, LV305; n=23 patients). As reported by investigators, at the end of the third quarter:
The safety profile remains favorable, with a consistent rate of NY-ESO-1-triggered T cell responses that appear stronger with CMB305.
The median overall survival (OS) has still not been reached in either study, with CMB305 and LV305 having a median follow-up of approximately 221 days and 640 days, respectively. Chemotherapeutic agents approved to treat metastatic STS have shown a median OS of 12.4-13.5 months.
CMB305 in combination with TECENTRIQ (atezolizumab): Enrollment continues in this randomized 80 patient, Phase 2 study comparing CMB305 plus atezolizumab vs. atezolizumab alone, pursuant to a collaboration with Genentech.
Immune Design intends to submit data for presentation from the CMB305 studies beginning at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper) annual meeting in 2017 (ASCO 2017).
Antigen Agnostic: G100 Program
G100, the formulated TLR4 synthetic agonist from the GLAAS platform, GLA-SE, injected intratumorally, is being evaluated in an ongoing randomized Phase 2 trial in patients with follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma (fNHL). Patients receive either G100 and low-dose radiation (RadRx) or G100 and low-dose RadRx with the systemic administration of the anti-PD-1 antibody, Keytruda (pembrolizumab), pursuant to a collaboration with Merck. In contrast with CMB305’s focus on OS, the initial endpoint focus for this study is on response rates in both treated and distal, non-treated lesions.
Immune Design intends to submit data from this Phase 2 study for presentation beginning at ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) 2017.
Expansion of the versatility of the ZVex platform and further support for ongoing product development: upcoming presentations at SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) and ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper)
To avoid potential antigenic competition and to induce an immune response to multiple antigens that are co-delivered to dendritic cells, Immune Design has further developed the ZVex platform to enable the delivery of multiple RNA genes to dendritic cells to induce a simultaneous T cell response against each, separate antigen. The company intends to include this new feature in its planned next generation of product candidates, ZVex2.0, which will be designed to deliver both multiple conserved antigens and/or neo-antigens, in the latter case, distinct from ZVexNeo and the collaboration with Gritstone Oncology.
A preclinical prototype from this evolution of the ZVex platform will be presented at the upcoming SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) annual meeting, as well as a presentation illustrating preclinical data from a new prime-boost option coupling a ZVex vector with an alternate boost modality. Also, at the ASH (Free ASH Whitepaper) 2016 annual meeting, Immune Design will present additional preclinical data describing the synergy of G100 with local radiation to eradicate lymphomas, further supporting its ongoing G100 Phase 2 study in fNHL.
Expansion of the Senior Leadership Team
Sergey Yurasov, M.D., Ph.D. Joins Executive Team: Addition of Late-Stage Oncology Development Expertise
Dr. Sergey Yurasov joined the Immune Design team as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer in October 2016. Dr. Yurasov brings more than 20 years’ experience in immunology and late-stage oncology drug development to the company.
Acquisition of Intellectual Property Rights and Settlement of Litigation and Patent Challenge
On October 21, 2016, Immune Design announced the acquisition of intellectual property rights from, and settlement of outstanding legal proceedings with, Theravectys SA (TVS). Immune Design obtained a license to certain present and future intellectual property of TVS related to the company’s ZVex platform, and resolved all outstanding proceedings in Delaware and Belgium and a patent opposition proceeding brought by TVS against one of the company’s patents related to ZVex. Please refer to Immune Design’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 21, 2016 for a more complete description of the terms.
Completion of Follow-On Financing
In September 2016, Immune Design completed an underwritten follow-on public offering, which resulted in the sale of 5,226,369 shares of common stock, at a price of $6.25 per share. Net proceeds from the offering were $30.3 million after deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and estimated expenses. Both new and existing investors participated in the offering.
Financial Results
Third Quarter
Immune Design ended the third quarter of 2016 with $112.5 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, compared to $112.9 million as of December 31, 2015. Net cash used in operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 was $31.4 million and $10.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2016.
Net loss and net loss per share for the third quarter of 2016 were $12.4 million and $0.60, respectively, compared to $7.4 million and $0.37, respectively, for the third quarter of 2015.
Revenue for the third quarter of 2016 was $8.2 million and was attributable primarily to $7.0 million in license revenue associated with Immune Design’s collaboration with Sanofi, $0.4 million in product sales to collaboration partner Sanofi, and $0.8 million in collaboration revenue associated with the Sanofi G103 (HSV2 therapeutic vaccine) collaboration. Revenue for the third quarter of 2015 was $4.7 million and was attributable primarily to $3.5 million in license revenue associated with Immune Design’s collaboration with Sanofi, $0.8 million in product sales to collaboration partners MedImmune and Sanofi, and $0.3 million in collaboration revenue associated with the Sanofi G103 (HSV2 therapeutic vaccine) collaboration.
Research and development expenses for the third quarter of 2016 were $11.2 million, compared to $8.3 million for the third quarter of 2015. The $2.9 million increase was primarily attributable to continuing advancement of Immune Design’s ongoing research and development programs, including ongoing Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials.
General and administrative expenses for the third quarter of 2016 were $9.6 million, compared to $3.5 million for the third quarter of 2015. The $6.1 million increase was primarily attributable to the settlement and license agreements with TVS involving the acquisition of certain present and future intellectual property rights from TVS and resolving the litigation initiated by TVS in July 2014 against the Company, as well as related claims and counterclaims.
Year-to-Date
Net loss and net loss per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 were $39.1 million and $1.92, respectively, compared to $27.3 million and $1.45, respectively, for the same period in 2015.
Revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 was $11.2 million and was attributable primarily to $7.0 million in license revenue associated with Immune Design’s collaboration with Sanofi, $1.2 million in product sales to collaboration partner Sanofi, and $3.0 million in collaboration revenue associated with the Sanofi G103 (HSV2 therapeutic vaccine) collaboration. Revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 was $8.4 million and was attributable primarily to $3.5 million in license revenue associated with Immune Design’s collaboration with Sanofi, $0.9 million in product sales to collaboration partners MedImmune and Sanofi, and $3.9 million in collaboration revenue associated with the Sanofi G103 (HSV2 therapeutic vaccine) collaboration.
Research and development expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 were $33.1 million compared to $24.2 million for the same period in 2015. The $8.9 million increase was primarily attributable to continuing advancement of Immune Design’s ongoing research and development programs, including ongoing Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials and an increase in personnel-related expenses to support the company’s advancing research and clinical pipeline.
General and administrative expenses for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 were $17.4 million, compared to $11.1 million for the same period in 2015. The $6.3 million increase was primarily attributable to the settlement and license agreements with TVS entered into in October 2016 involving the acquisition of certain present and future intellectual property rights from TVS and resolving the litigation initiated by TVS in July 2014 against the Company, as well as related claims and counterclaims.