On April 29, 2021 Morphic Therapeutic (Nasdaq: MORF), a biopharmaceutical company developing a new generation of oral integrin therapies for the treatment of serious chronic diseases, reported its corporate highlights and financial results for the first quarter of 2021 (Press release, Morphic Therapeutic, APR 29, 2021, View Source [SID1234578811]).
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
Recent Highlights and Outlook
•Expanded research and development collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals for a third program, focused on activating antibodies against a new integrin target
•Announced positive preliminary results from Phase 1 single ascending dose portion of MORF-057 Phase 1 providing early clinical proof of concept for MORF-057 as an oral, selective α4β7 inhibitor
◦MORF-057 was well tolerated in all dose cohorts
◦MORF-057 achieved greater than 95% mean receptor occupancy of α4β7 integrin at three highest dose levels
◦Observed saturating levels of >99% RO in subjects in each cohort above 25mg
◦Morphic received an acceptance for its submission to present the complete MORF-057 Phase 1 data set at the ECCO’21 Virtual Congress in July 2021. This presentation will include additional data from the Phase 1 SAD study as well as results from the ongoing Phase 1 multiple ascending dose and food effect studies
•Completed $245 million upsized public offering of stock providing runway until the end of 2024
•Presented positive preclinical data from the αvβ8 immuno-oncology program demonstrating that Morphic’s small molecule inhibitors, in combination with checkpoint inhibitors, potentiated anti-tumor activity in tumors refractory to checkpoint inhibition monotherapy
"Morphic has made great strides in our mission to develop oral integrin medicines based on the MInT platform thus far in 2021. We made noteworthy advances across our proprietary and partnered integrin development programs as well as in the operational aspects of our business, including expanded partnerships, and the presentation of new data from emerging programs in our early integrin pipeline," commented Praveen Tipirneni, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Morphic Therapeutic. "Most importantly, we provided proof-of-concept data for MORF-057 in IBD, with a favorable tolerability profile and excellent pharmacodynamic data. Finally, based on our recent fund-raising, Morphic has a strong cash position as we approach additional MORF-057 data this year and then continue to advance our integrin-targeted therapeutic candidates created with the MInT platform."
Financial Results for the First Quarter 2021
•Net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 was $21.3 million or $0.63 per share compared to a net loss of $16.7 million or $0.55 per share for the same quarter last year.
•Revenue was $3.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 compared to $5.6 million for the same quarter last year.
•Research and development expenses were $18.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 as compared to $19.0 million for the same quarter last year. The slight decrease was due to AbbVie’s option exercise for αvβ6 program in 2020 resulting in lower costs in 2021 offset with higher costs associated with Morphic’s wholly owned α4β7 program.
•General and administrative expenses were $6.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, compared to $4.4 million for the same quarter last year. The increase was primarily attributable to increased headcount and higher professional and consulting costs associated with Morphic operating as a public company.
As of March 31, 2021, Morphic had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $448.3 million, compared to $228.3 million as of December 31, 2020. The increase was primarily due to the closing of the public offering of common stock in March. Morphic believes its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of March 31, 2021, will be sufficient to fund operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements until the end of 2024.