On August 15, 2016 Syros Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SYRS) reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2016, and provided an update on recent accomplishments and upcoming events (Press release, Syros Pharmaceuticals, AUG 15, 2016, View Source;p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2195352 [SID:1234514589]).

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"The first half of 2016 has been a period of tremendous growth for Syros," said Nancy Simonian, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Syros. "We transitioned to a clinical-stage company with the FDA’s acceptance of the IND for our lead program SY-1425 and with the opening of our Phase 2 trial for patient enrollment. We also became a publicly traded enterprise with the successful completion of our IPO, which we expect to provide funding for us to drive forward our two lead programs to clinical data readouts and further enhance our gene control drug discovery and development platform through mid-2018. Importantly, we accomplished these milestones while progressing our pioneering platform to discover and develop medicines that control the expression of disease-driving genes."

Upcoming Milestones

Phase 2 trial of SY-1425, a first-in-class selective retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) agonist, is on track to begin dosing genomically defined relapsed or refractory AML and relapsed high-risk MDS patients with the RARA biomarker, which Syros discovered, in the third quarter of 2016. Patients are currently being screened for enrollment in the trial.
Phase 1/2 trial of SY-1365, a first-in-class selective cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (CDK7) inhibitor, remains on track to begin in the first half of 2017, with the in-life portion of the Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) toxicology studies now successfully completed.
Recent Platform and Pipeline Highlights

In June 2016, Syros presented data on its two lead programs, SY-1425 and SY-1365, at the 21st Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) (Free EHA Whitepaper) in Copenhagen, Denmark. In preclinical studies, SY-1425 was observed to inhibit the growth of cancer cells and prolong survival in in vivo models of AML with the RARA biomarker, while SY-1365 was observed to selectively kill acute leukemia cells over non-cancerous cells and induce complete tumor regression and a significant survival benefit in in vivo models of AML.
In May 2016, the Company announced the acceptance of its Investigational New Drug (IND) application by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to advance SY-1425 into a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with relapsed or refractory AML and relapsed high-risk MDS with the RARA biomarker.
In April 2016, Syros presented additional preclinical data on both SY-1425 and SY-1365 at the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
Recent Corporate Highlights

In July 2016, Syros completed its initial public offering, raising approximately $57.5 million in gross proceeds through the sale of 4,600,000 shares at an offering price of $12.50 per share – including 600,000 shares of common stock issued upon the full exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares.
In June 2016, the Company expanded its Board of Directors with the appointment of industry leader Sanj K. Patel, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals and former President and Chief Executive Officer of Synageva BioPharma Corp.
Second Quarter 2016 Financial Results

Cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2016 were $50.1 million, compared with $35.9 million on December 31, 2015. Cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2016 did not include total net proceeds of approximately $49.9 million from the Company’s initial public offering of common stock, which was completed in July 2016.
For the second quarter 2016, Syros reported a net loss of $12.0 million, or $5.42 per share, compared to a net loss of $6.1 million, or $4.16 per share, for the same period in 2015.
Research and development (R&D) expenses for the second quarter 2016 were approximately $9.5 million, including stock-based compensation expense of $0.9 million, compared to $5.4 million, including stock-based compensation expense of $0.5 million, for the same period in 2015. The increase was largely due to increased external costs associated with advancing the Company’s pipeline, as well as personnel expense and stock-based compensation expense.
General and administrative (G&A) expenses for the second quarter 2016 were approximately $2.5 million, including stock-based compensation expense of $0.2 million, compared to $1.0 million, including stock-based compensation expense of $0.1 million for the same period in 2015. The increase was largely due to increased personnel expense and stock-based compensation expense, as well as increased professional fees.