On August 8, 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 second quarter 2024 financial and operating results (Press release, Lineage Cell Therapeutics, AUG 8, 2024, View Source [SID1234645613]). The Company will host a conference call today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss these results and to provide a business update.

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"The second quarter was highlighted by clinical and preclinical execution alongside expanded awareness and data updates on our lead program," stated Brian M. Culley, Lineage CEO. "As the cell transplant field expands and continues to deliver exciting clinical outcomes, we are excited about our validating partnership and the collective expertise of the team at Roche and Genentech, as well as their ongoing leadership of the OpRegen program through presentations at scientific conferences and internal thought leader events, including Roche’s Virtual Ophthalmology Day, hosted just last month. We continue to support the ongoing Phase 2a clinical study and also have initiated activities under the recently established services agreement with Genentech, enabling our partners to take advantage of our cell transplant expertise to more fully investigate the potential of the OpRegen program. In parallel, we are focused on activities in support of returning our second cell transplant program, OPC1, into the clinic this year for the treatment of spinal cord injury, a condition with growing awareness of its unmet need and commercial opportunity."

"Importantly, our continued inclusion within the Russell 3000 Index, can help our efforts to broaden investor awareness of, and support for, Lineage as a uniquely positioned cell transplant company, one with a pharma-validated lead program and a platform technology of internally-owned clinical and preclinical assets, which is focused on growing our internally-owned cGMP capabilities in support of process and intellectual property development," added Mr. Culley.

Recent Operational Highlights

RG6501 (OpRegen)
Continued execution under our collaboration with Roche and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, across multiple functional areas, including support for the ongoing Phase 2a clinical study in patients with geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Initiated activities under recently established services agreement with Genentech to support ongoing development of OpRegen. Lineage is providing additional clinical, technical, training and manufacturing services, fully funded by Genentech, that further support the ongoing advancement and optimization of the OpRegen program 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.
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 best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) gain of 5.5 letters at 24 months (n=10) in Cohort 4 patients (less advanced GA)
Mean BCVA gains greater among patients with improvement in outer retinal structure (n=5, +7.4 letters)
Maintenance or increases in external limiting membrane (ELM) and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) layer area at 24 months observed in patients with extensive coverage of OpRegen across the areas of GA (n=5)
Data suggest OpRegen may counteract RPE cell dysfunction and cell loss in patients with GA 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 continue.
Hosted the 2nd Annual Spinal Cord Injury Investor Symposium, in partnership with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.
Balance Sheet Highlights

Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities of $38.5 million as of June 30, 2024 is expected to support planned operations into Q4 2025.

Second Quarter Operating Results

Revenues: Lineage’s revenue is generated primarily from collaboration revenues and royalties. Total revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2024 were $1.4 million, a net decrease of $1.8 million as compared to approximately $3.2 million for the same period in 2023. The decrease was primarily driven by less collaboration and licensing revenue recognized from deferred revenues under the collaboration and license agreement with Roche.

Operating Expenses: Operating expenses are comprised of research and development (R&D) expenses and general and administrative (G&A) expenses. Total operating expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2024 were $7.3 million, a decrease of $0.9 million as compared to $8.2 million for the same period in 2023.

R&D Expenses: R&D expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2024 were $2.9 million, a net decrease of $1.0 million as compared to $3.9 million for the same period in 2023. The net decrease was primarily driven by $0.6 million for our OPC1 program and $0.3 million for our preclinical programs.

G&A Expenses: G&A expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2024 were approximately $4.3 million, a net increase of approximately $0.1 million as compared to $4.2 million for the same period in 2023. The increase was primarily driven by stock-based compensation expense and personnel costs.

Loss from Operations: Loss from operations for the three months ended June 30, 2024 were $5.9 million, an increase of $0.9 million as compared to $5.0 million for the same period in 2023.

Other Income/(Expenses): Other income (expenses) for the three months ended June 30, 2024 reflected other income of $0.1 million, compared to other expenses of ($0.2) million for the same period in 2023. The change was primarily driven by exchange rate fluctuations related to Lineage’s international subsidiaries, fair market value changes in marketable equity securities, and interest income earned within our money market accounts.

Net Loss Attributable to Lineage: The net loss attributable to Lineage for the three months ended June 30, 2024 was $5.8 million, or $0.03 per share (basic and diluted), compared to a net loss attributable to Lineage of $5.2 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 August 8th, 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 August 15th, 2024, by dialing (800) 770-2030 from the U.S. and Canada and entering conference ID number 6024260.