On May 9, 2024 Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American and TASE: LCTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing allogeneic cell therapies for unmet medical needs, reported its first quarter 2024 financial and operating results and will host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss these results and to provide a business update (Press release, Lineage Cell Therapeutics, MAY 9, 2024, View Source [SID1234643000]).
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"The quarter was highlighted by significant milestones and data updates on our lead program," stated Brian M. Culley, Lineage CEO. "A key area of attention for investors is our partnership with Roche and Genentech, and we are pleased to announce a new services agreement which reflects an additional commitment by Genentech for the benefit of the OpRegen program. We believe this agreement will enable our partners to take advantage of our cell transplant expertise to more fully investigate the promising potential of the OpRegen program and do so in a cost-effective manner. We also are planning to bring our second cell transplant program, OPC1, into the clinic this year for a condition with growing awareness of its unmet need and commercial opportunity. Lastly, we continue to build value through the advancement of our early-stage pipeline, which can help create value by capitalizing on the continued validation of our cell transplant approach."
Recent Operational Highlights
RG6501 (OpRegen)
Established new services agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to support ongoing development of OpRegen. Under this new agreement, Lineage will provide additional clinical, technical, training and manufacturing services that further support the ongoing advancement and optimization of the OpRegen program. These additional services will be fully funded by Genentech and include: (i) activities to support the ongoing Phase 1/2a study and currently-enrolling Phase 2a study; and (ii) additional technical training and materials related to Lineage’s cell therapy technology platform to support commercial manufacturing strategies.
Continued execution under our collaboration with Roche and Genentech across multiple functional areas, including support for the ongoing Phase 2a clinical study in patients with GA secondary to AMD.
Positive clinical data from long-term follow-up of patients from the Phase 1/2a clinical study of OpRegen presented by David Telander, MD, PhD, Retinal Consultants Medical Group, at the 2024 Retinal Cell & Gene Therapy Innovation Summit.
Mean BCVA gain of 5.5 letters at 24 months in Cohort 4 patients (less advanced geographic atrophy)
Mean BCVA gains greater among patients with improvement in outer retinal structure (+7.4 letters)
Maintenance or increases in external limiting membrane (ELM) and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) layers at 24 months observed in patients with extensive coverage of OpRegen across the areas of GA
Data suggests OpRegen may counteract RPE cell dysfunction and cell loss secondary to geographic atrophy by providing support to remaining retinal cells, with multi-year effects observed following a single administration
Preclinical results from a surgical development study of OpRegen presented by Rachel N. Andrews, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, at 2024 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting (2024 ARVO).
OPC1
DOSED (Delivery of Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells for Spinal Cord Injury: Evaluation of a Novel Device) clinical study for the treatment of subacute and chronic spinal cord patient start-up activities underway.
Received an Education Conference II Grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), to support the 2nd Annual Spinal Cord Injury Investor Symposium, hosted in partnership with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, to be held on June 26 and 27, 2024 at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla, CA.
Corporate Updates
Appointed veteran industry executive Dr. Charlotte Hubbert as Vice President of Corporate Development. Dr. Hubbert previously served as Partner and Head of Gates Foundation Venture Capital, an initiative at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund, and most recently served in the leadership team at NanoString Technologies. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Beckman Research Institute at the City of Hope and is a Strategic Director at Madrona Venture Group.
Balance Sheet Highlights
Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities of $43.6 million as of March 31, 2024, is expected to support planned operations into Q3 2025.
First Quarter Operating Results
Revenues: Lineage’s revenue is generated primarily from collaboration revenues and royalties. Total revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2024 were approximately $1.4 million, a net decrease of $1.0 million as compared to $2.4 million for the same period in 2023. The decrease was primarily driven by lower collaboration and licensing revenue recognized from deferred revenues under the collaboration and license agreement with Roche.
Operating Expenses: Operating expenses are primarily comprised of research and development ("R&D") expenses and general and administrative ("G&A") expenses. Total operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2024 were $8.1 million, a decrease of $0.9 million as compared to $9.0 million for the same period in 2023.
R&D Expenses: R&D expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2024 were $3.0 million, a net decrease of $1.2 million as compared to $4.2 million for the same period in 2023. The net decrease was primarily driven by $0.4 million for our OPC1 program, $0.3 million for our preclinical programs, and $0.2 million for our OpRegen program. Another $0.3 million of the decrease was attributable to other research and development expenses, primarily related to reduced manufacturing activities.
G&A Expenses: G&A expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2024 were $5.0 million, a net increase of $0.3 million as compared to approximately $4.7 million for the same period in 2023. The increase was primarily driven by $0.2 million in stock-based compensation expenses, and an overall increase in costs incurred for consulting services.
Loss from Operations: Loss from operations for the three months ended March 31, 2024 were $6.7 million, an increase of $0.1 million as compared to $6.6 million for the same period in 2023.
Other Income/(Expenses), Net: Other income (expenses), net for the three months ended March 31, 2024 was comprised of other income of $0.1 million, compared to other income of $0.4 million for the same period in 2023. The net decrease was primarily driven by the employee retention credit recognized in the prior year, partially offset by exchange rate fluctuations related to Lineage’s international subsidiaries.
Net Loss Attributable to Lineage: The net loss attributable to Lineage for the three months ended March 31, 2024 was $6.5 million, or $0.04 per share (basic and diluted), compared to a net loss attributable to Lineage of $4.4 million, or $0.03 per share (basic and diluted), for the same period in 2023.
Conference Call and Webcast
Interested parties may access the conference call on May 9th, 2024, by dialing (800) 715-9871 from the U.S. and Canada and should request the "Lineage Cell Therapeutics Call". A live webcast of the conference call will be available online in the Investors section of Lineage’s website. A replay of the webcast will be available on Lineage’s website for 30 days and a telephone replay will be available through May 15th, 2024, by dialing (800) 770-2030 from the U.S. and Canada and entering conference ID number 1330332.