On November 3, 2021 Tyra Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: TYRA), a precision oncology company focused on developing purpose-built therapies to overcome tumor resistance and improve outcomes for patients with cancer, reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and highlighted recent corporate progress (Press release, Tyra Biosciences, NOV 3, 2021, View Source [SID1234594230]).

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"2021 has been transformational for TYRA. We’re pleased to have made meaningful progress across our business with important advancements in our programs, people and financial strategy," said Todd Harris, CEO of TYRA. "With the capital raised in our IPO from top tier institutional investors, key additions to our leadership and board and the growth of our pipeline, TYRA is well-positioned to execute on our strategy of delivering next-generation therapies to patients with acquired tumor resistance."

Third Quarter 2021 and Recent Corporate Highlights

Completed $198.7 Million Upsized Initial Public Offering. In September 2021, TYRA sold 12,420,000 shares of common stock in its initial public offering, which included the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase 1,620,000 additional shares of common stock, at a public offering price of $16.00 per share. The gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by TYRA, were $198.7 million.

Appointed Rehan Verjee to Board of Directors. Rehan Verjee, former President of EMD Serono and Global Head of the Innovative Medicine Franchises for Merck KGaA, was appointed to TYRA’s Board of Directors.

Strengthened Leadership. TYRA made key senior appointments including Esther van den Boom as Chief Financial Officer, John Healy as General Counsel, and Allison Kemner as Vice President, Clinical Sciences and Operations.

Nominated 2nd Product Candidate for Clinical Development, TYRA-200 (FGFR2 Inhibitor). In October 2021, TYRA nominated its product candidate, TYRA-200, for clinical development to treat patients with tumors due to activating mutations and gene alterations in FGFR2. Similar to therapies designed for the treatment of FGFR3-driven cancers, resistance to both approved and investigational FGFR inhibitors has been shown to arise due to well-characterized mutations in FGFR2. TYRA has designed TYRA-200 to be active against multiple acquired resistant mutations that arise during treatment with other FGFR inhibitors, which remains a high unmet medical need, particularly in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. TYRA anticipates filing an Investigational New Drug application (IND) for TYRA-200 with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the second half of 2022.
Third Quarter 2021 Financial Results

Cash Position: Cash and cash equivalents were $312.8 million as of September 30, 2021, as compared to $15.2 million as of December 31, 2020. TYRA expects its current cash and cash equivalents balance to fund operations through at least 2024.

R&D Expenses: R&D expenses were $5.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2021, compared to $1.9 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020. The increase was primarily driven by expenses incurred in connection with the advancement of TYRA-300 and other development programs as well as increased personnel costs to support increased development activities and the growth of TYRA’s pipeline.

General and Administrative (G&A) Expenses: G&A expenses were $1.2 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2021, compared to $0.5 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020. The increase was primarily driven by increased personnel costs and professional services including accounting, legal and consulting fees.

Net Loss: For the quarter ended September 30, 2021, TYRA reported a net loss of $6.6 million, or $(0.72) per basic and diluted share, compared to a net loss of $2.3 million, or $(1.47) per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2020.
About TYRA’s SNÅP Platform

TYRA has developed a proprietary, in-house discovery platform named SNÅP that enables TYRA scientists to see the real-world interaction between drug and target in rapid, sequential, structural SNÅPshots. Through the rapid generation of these precise molecular SNÅPshots, TYRA is able to continually gain deeper insights into the structure of inhibitor binding sites and how commonly occurring genetic alterations lead to acquired drug resistance to existing therapies. Leveraging these insights, TYRA aims to predict the genetic alterations most likely to cause resistance to specific existing therapies and develop compound candidates with innovative structures that are designed to inhibit the target while avoiding those mutations.