On August 11, 2023 Pyxis Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: PYXS), a clinical-stage company focused on developing next-generation therapeutics to target difficult-to-treat cancers, reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, and provided a corporate update (Press release, Pyxis Oncology, AUG 11, 2023, View Source [SID1234634279]).

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Pyxis Oncology ended the second quarter of 2023 with approximately $144.1 million in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments, which is expected to provide a runway into the first half of 2025, enabling the Company to evaluate early signs of potential clinical activity for PYX-201 and PYX-106 and potentially allowing the Company to initiate tumor-specific expansion cohorts following dose selection.

"During the second quarter, we announced our planned acquisition of Apexigen, Inc., which will bolster Pyxis Oncology’s position at the forefront of antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) innovation and will expand our clinical pipeline. We are on track to close the acquisition later in August. We remain financially disciplined while executing operationally on each of our two ongoing clinical trials of PYX-201 and PYX-106 and we are encouraged by the positive feedback we’ve received from investigators," said Lara S. Sullivan, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Pyxis Oncology. "We continue to anticipate preliminary data, including biomarker results and early signs of potential clinical activity, from our Phase 1 trials of PYX-106 in late 2023 and PYX-201 in early 2024."

Recent Corporate Updates

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Third dose level reached in Phase 1 trial of PYX-201: Dosing is ongoing at the third dose level in the PYX-201-101 trial, and three clinical sites have begun recruiting in Europe, along with sites in the U.S.
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Abstracts accepted for poster presentation at SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper): Abstracts for trial-in-progress (TIP) posters describing the PYX-106-101 and PYX-201-101 Phase 1 clinical trials were accepted for presentation at the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) 38th Annual Meeting, to be held November 1-5, 2023, in San Diego.

Upcoming Milestones

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Apexigen, Inc. transaction expected close, later in August 2023
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Anticipated Yale presentation of investigator sponsored trial (IST) results describing an anti-siglec-15 compound’s activity and safety at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer, September 2023
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Announce clinical development plan for sotigalimab​, Q4 2023 (assuming closing of the Apexigen transaction)
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Report pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) data for sotigalimab​, Q4 2023 (assuming closing of the Apexigen transaction)
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Report preliminary data, including biomarker results and early signs of potential clinical activity from PYX-106-101​, late 2023
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Report preliminary data, including biomarker results and early signs of potential clinical activity from PYX-201-101​​, early 2024
Q2 2023 Financial Results

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As of June 30, 2023, Pyxis Oncology had cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash) and short-term investments of $144.1 million (preliminary, unaudited), which is expected to fund operations into the first half of 2025 and reflects continued financial discipline.
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Research and development expenses were $11.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023, compared to $17.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022. The period-over-period decline was primarily due to lower contract manufacturing and preclinical research costs, which were partially offset by increased clinical trial-related expenses for PYX-201 and PYX-106.
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General and administrative expenses were $6.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023, compared to $8.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022. The period-over-period decrease was primarily due to a reduction in stock-based compensation expense and lower professional and consultant fees.
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Net loss was $15.9 million, or $0.41 per common share, for the three months ended June 30, 2023, compared to $25.6 million, or $0.79 per common share, for the three months ended June 30, 2022. Net losses for the quarters ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 included $3.7 million and $4.0 million, respectively, related to non-cash stock-based compensation expense.
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As of June 30, 2023, the outstanding number of shares of common stock of Pyxis Oncology was 39,376,941.