On March 15, 2016 Blueprint Medicines Corporation (NASDAQ: BPMC), a leader in discovering and developing highly selective kinase medicines for patients with genomically defined diseases, reported that it has entered into a worldwide collaboration and exclusive license agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd and Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. (collectively, Roche) for the discovery, development and commercialization of up to five small molecule therapeutics targeting kinases believed to be important in cancer immunotherapy (Press release, Blueprint Medicines, MAR 15, 2016, View Source [SID1234556115]).

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!

Under the terms of the agreement, Blueprint Medicines will receive an upfront cash payment of $45 million and will be eligible to receive up to an additional approximately $965 million in contingent option fees and milestone payments related to specified research, preclinical, clinical, regulatory and sales-based milestones across all five potential programs. Of the total contingent payments, up to approximately $215 million are for option fees and milestone payments for research, preclinical and clinical development events prior to licensing across all five potential programs. In addition, the agreement provides for specified royalties and cost sharing, which are described in more detail below.

Immunokinases are intracellular targets known to regulate numerous aspects of immune response and represent an important opportunity for potentially innovative approaches to enhance the immune system’s ability to recognize and eradicate tumor cells. To date, cancer immunotherapies have demonstrated important clinical benefits. However, most cancer immunotherapies have focused on antibodies or combinations with existing approved therapies and have not yet targeted immunokinases with small molecules. This collaboration seeks to develop new mechanisms of modulating the tumor immune response by targeting immunokinases with the goal of enhancing response rates and broadening the utility of using cancer immunotherapies to treat additional cancer types.

"We believe Blueprint Medicines’ proprietary drug discovery platform and expertise in immunokinases, combined with our proven ability to move quickly through drug discovery, is a perfect complement to Roche’s expertise with cancer immunotherapy biology and in developing and commercializing innovative therapies," said Jeff Albers, Chief Executive Officer of Blueprint Medicines. "Under this collaboration, Blueprint Medicines will lead preclinical research and development through Phase 1 proof of concept for all five programs and retain U.S. commercial rights for two programs. We believe this highly collaborative relationship will enable us to accelerate our efforts in the emerging field of cancer immunotherapy and to continue building a leading biotechnology company."

The collaboration provides for the worldwide development and commercialization of immunokinases in the field of cancer immunotherapy for up to five small molecule drug candidates as single products or possibly in combination with Roche’s portfolio of therapeutics. Roche’s rights are structured as an option, triggered upon achievement of Phase I proof-of-concept, for an exclusive license to each drug candidate developed under the collaboration. Blueprint Medicines will be primarily responsible for preclinical research and conduct of clinical development for each program prior to any exercise of Roche’s option for such program. If Roche exercises an option for a program, Roche will be responsible for subsequent global development for that program through registrational clinical trials. For up to three of the five programs, if Roche exercises its option, Roche will receive worldwide commercialization rights for the licensed product. For up to two of the five programs, if Roche exercises its option, Blueprint Medicines will retain commercialization rights in the United States for the licensed product, and Roche will receive commercialization rights outside of the United States for such licensed product. Blueprint Medicines will also retain worldwide rights to any drug candidates for which Roche elects not to exercise the applicable option.

For any licensed product for which Roche retains worldwide commercialization rights, Blueprint Medicines will be eligible to receive tiered royalties ranging from low double-digits to high-teens on future net sales of the licensed product. For any licensed product for which Blueprint Medicines retains commercialization rights in the United States, Blueprint Medicines and Roche will be eligible to receive tiered royalties ranging from mid-single-digits to low double-digits on future net sales in the other party’s respective territories in which it commercializes the licensed product. Blueprint Medicines and Roche will share the costs of Phase 1 development for each collaboration target. In addition, Roche will be responsible for post-Phase 1 development costs for each licensed product for which it retains global commercialization rights, and Blueprint Medicines and Roche will share post-Phase 1 development costs for each licensed product for which Blueprint Medicines retains commercialization rights in the United States.

On March 15, 2016 PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. (OTCQB:PMCB), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing targeted therapies for cancer and diabetes using its live-cell encapsulation technology, Cell-in-a-Box, reported another in a series of articles that will serve to educate the public on its live-cell encapsulation technology and its use in developing treatments for pancreatic cancer and diabetes (Press release, PharmaCyte Biotech, MAR 15, 2016, View Source [SID:1234510782]). This educational piece addresses PharmaCyte’s intellectual property (IP) and the strategy that PharmaCyte will employ to protect that property.

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!

PharmaCyte’s IP consists of exclusive license agreements that PharmaCyte has with other parties and IP that PharmaCyte intends to create during the clinical development of its product candidates. In the questions and answers below, PharmaCyte’s Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth L. Waggoner, discusses PharmaCyte’s IP protection strategy, which consists of patents, patent term extensions, regulatory data exclusivity, market exclusivity for orphan drugs, know-how/trade secrets and trademarks.

PharmaCyte’s Intellectual Property Protection Strategy

Which family of patents protects PharmaCyte’s pancreatic cancer therapy and what is your plan to extend those patents?

"Before I answer that question, let me say that our pancreatic cancer therapy has two iron-clad protections that will far surpass any protection that our patents could ever bring if we can obtain FDA approval. I will discuss this a little later in this piece, but keep in mind while reading these responses that our pancreatic cancer therapy is going to remain protected long after the patents expire.

"Everyone interested in PharmaCyte’s pancreatic cancer therapy should be focused on the family of patents that deal with the live-cell encapsulation of genetically altered human cells that overexpress a form of the Cytochrome p450 enzyme system (normally found in the liver), and specifically on only 2 patents in that family. Those patents are set to expire in the United States a little over a year from now on March 27, 2017. These are the only patents that pertain to PharmaCyte’s pancreatic cancer therapy. Now, while these patents are set to expire next year, we certainly aren’t sitting idly by and allowing that to happen.

"We do have a protection strategy in place, which includes filing an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for interim extensions extending the life of those patents 1 year at a time for up to 5 years, which we believe will be long enough to get us through clinical trials and the regulatory approval process. The earliest the application can be filed is 6 months before the expiration of the patents, and the application can be filed up to 15 days before the expiration date. PharmaCyte can and plans to file its patent extension application between September 27, 2016, and March 12, 2017."

Can PharmaCyte apply for follow-on patents? If so, can you explain what these patents are?

"Yes. New patentable inventions related to a pharmaceutical product, also called ‘follow-on patents,’ generally encompass improvements to, or new uses for, the pharmaceutical not disclosed or suggested in the original patent. PharmaCyte anticipates extending its patent protection for its product candidates through improvements to its core technology, including:

1. New Formulations: New formulations of a known drug compound that are clinically superior to the previous drug formulation may be patentable. Developing new formulations that promote a patient’s successful therapy through such things as reduced dosing or ease of use, or that exhibit improved therapeutic outcomes or more favorable side-effect profiles, are patentable. Examples include sustained-release formulations, extended-release formulations and dosing regimens.

2. New Routes of Administration: Additional patent protection may be obtained for new formulations that permit new routes of administration.

3. New Uses: Patents directed to new uses and treatments may be obtained.

4. Combinations: Combining two or more drugs into one treatment also may be patentable.
New discoveries that may be eligible for patent protection as follow-on patents cannot be predicted at the current time; however, PharmaCyte anticipates improvements to its technology and product candidates to be generated as these product candidates move through clinical testing."

Being that PharmaCyte’s cancer product candidates are biologics, does PharmaCyte qualify for regulatory data protection and the 12 years of data exclusivity that comes with it as outlined by the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA), which was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010?

"Yes. This is one of the two iron-clad protections that I was speaking of earlier in this article. We will be seeking this protection and the 12 years of data exclusivity it provides. ‘Reference product exclusivity’ or ‘regulatory data protection’ is an IP right available for a limited duration, which protects an innovator’s proprietary safety and efficacy data for its innovative product. This protection prevents any other party, during an exclusivity term of 12 years, from relying on the innovator’s proprietary data in order to obtain marketing approval or authorizations for a follow-on ‘biosimilar’ or generic drug product. A biosimilar product is a follow-on version of an innovator’s biological product.

"PharmaCyte’s cancer product candidates are considered biological products because the capsules that are part of those products contain living, albeit genetically altered, human cells. Biological products include a wide range of products such as vaccines, blood and blood components, allergenics, somatic cells, gene therapies, tissues and recombinant therapeutic proteins. The BPCIA created an abbreviated licensure pathway for biological products shown to be biosimilar to, or interchangeable with, an FDA-licensed biological reference product.

"The BPCIA establishes a period of 12 years of data exclusivity for reference products in order to preserve incentives for future innovation. Under this framework, data exclusivity protects the data in the innovator’s regulatory application by prohibiting others, for a period of 12 years, from gaining FDA approval based in part on reliance on or reference to the innovator’s data in their biosimilar application. PharmaCyte anticipates its 12-year exclusivity will begin as soon as the FDA approves its pancreatic cancer product candidate.

"Countries in the European Union (EU) also provide for such data protection. Further, in October 2015 it was agreed as part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal between the United States, Australia, Brunei, Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam that biologic drugs will be given a minimum of 5 years data exclusivity."

Can you explain how the Orphan Drug designation that PharmaCyte has received in both the United States and in the European Union is a major source of protection for PharmaCyte’s pancreatic cancer therapy?

"This is the second of the two protections I spoke of earlier. PharmaCyte’s pancreatic cancer product candidate was designated an orphan drug and listed in the official registry of medicinal products for rare diseases by the FDA on December 17, 2014. This orphan drug status assures market exclusivity for PharmaCyte in the United States for 7 years after market approval. Similarly, PharmaCyte has orphan drug status in the EU for its pancreatic cancer product candidate. This designation provides 10 years of market exclusivity in all of the countries in the EU and assistance from the EMA in the product development.

"So it should be understood that once we gain market approval, our pancreatic cancer therapy will have exclusive protections with both the regulatory data protection and the orphan drug designations. In addition, there are a number of know-how/trade secrets and trademark protections built in that we believe will make it exceedingly difficult for any company or entity to ever duplicate our pancreatic cancer therapy and complete clinical trials before we reach market approval. Conservative estimates have indicated that, given the complex nature of the trade secrets/know-how associated with our IP portfolio, we may be able to extend the protection of our IP portfolio by at least several years on this basis alone."

In addition to PharmaCyte’s pancreatic cancer therapy, PharmaCyte also has a diabetes therapy that it is developing that will need protecting. Can you discuss how you’ll protect the therapy that consists of Cell-in-a-Box and Melligen cells?

"PharmaCyte has a License Agreement with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in Australia that provides PharmaCyte with an exclusive worldwide right to use genetically modified human liver cells called ‘Melligen cells.’ Those cells have been modified to contain pancreatic islet cell glucokinase for use in developing a treatment for Type 1 diabetes and insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes. The Melligen cells are protected by a patent issued in the EU that is in the process of being validated in each of the major countries. In addition, there is a patent pending in the United States. The License Agreement also provides PharmaCyte with the non-exclusive worldwide rights to ‘know-how’ associated with the Melligen cells.

"PharmaCyte also licensed from Austrianova the exclusive, worldwide rights to use the Cell-in-a-Box cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation technology for the development of a treatment for diabetes and the use of Austrianova’s Cell-in-a-Box trademark for this technology. The diabetes Licensing Agreement grants PharmaCyte exclusive worldwide rights to use the Cell-in-a-Box technology with genetically modified or non-modified non-stem cell lines, designed to produce insulin and/or other critical components for the treatment of diabetes."

In simple terms, how would you summarize PharmaCyte’s strategy for protecting its IP portfolio?

"PharmaCyte has several diverse avenues available to it for protecting its IP portfolio. We plan to pursue all of these in order to extend our IP portfolio to the greatest extent possible."

On March 15, 2016 Prima BioMed Ltd (ASX: PRR; NASDAQ: PBMD) reported that safety and immune monitoring data from an investigator-led clinical trial in melanoma using IMP321 as an adjuvant to a therapeutic vaccine has been published in the March 15 edition of the Clinical Cancer Research journal (Filing, 6-K, Prima Biomed, MAR 15, 2016, View Source [SID:1234509754]). The paper is titled "Vaccination with sLAG-3-Ig (IMP321) and peptides induces specific CD4 and CD8 T-cell responses in metastatic melanoma patients: report of a phase I/IIa clinical trial" and is the result of a long-standing academic collaboration between Dr. Frédéric Triebel, Prima’s Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Medical Officer and scientists at the Ludwig Centre for Cancer Research at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

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!

Professor Daniel Speiser, the lead investigator in the study and a key opinion leader in the research of peptide vaccines stated: "It is remarkable that serial vaccinations induced antigen specific T cell responses in all 16 vaccinated melanoma patients. We are very encouraged by the results from this second collaborative study using IMP321 as an adjuvant to boost our peptide vaccine effectiveness, which support the further development of peptide vaccines as part of a combination approach to treating cancer."

Dr. Triebel, a coauthor on the publication commented from Prima’s research laboratory in Paris: "We are very pleased to have demonstrated additional safety and immune monitoring data on IMP321 in this vaccine adjuvant setting. This is another clear demonstration of the potency of IMP321 as an antigen presenting cell (APC) activator able to boost tumor-specific T cells. The fact that the article featured in the highlights section both online and in the print publication is a great honour and recognition of the data’s scientific contribution."

On March 15, 2016 OPKO Health, Inc. (NYSE:OPK) reported the decision of the European Association of Urology (EAU) Prostate Cancer Guidelines Panel to include the 4Kscore Test in the 2016 EAU Guidelines for Prostate Cancer (Press release, Opko Health, MAR 15, 2016, View Source [SID:1234509564]). The panel concluded that the 4Kscore, as a blood test with greater specificity over the PSA test, is indicated for use prior to a first prostate biopsy or after a negative biopsy to assist patients and physicians in further defining the probability of high-grade cancer.

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!

"The EAU Prostate Cancer Guidelines Panel is an international, multi-disciplinary group of specialists in prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment," said Dr. Alberto Briganti, Department of Urology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy. "The decision to include the 4Kscore in the guidelines indicates that the Panel views the 4Kscore Test as having achieved an appropriate level of clinical evidence to recommend its use for both assessment of asymptomatic men prior to a first prostate biopsy and as an additional investigational test to be done after a negative prostate biopsy."

The 4Kscore test has been studied on over 22,000 patients with results published in 12 peer-reviewed scientific publications. The 4Kscore test is the only blood test that accurately identifies an individual patient’s risk for high-grade, aggressive cancer.

About the 4Kscore Test

The 4Kscore, a laboratory developed test, is the only blood test that accurately identifies an individual patient’s risk for aggressive prostate cancer, the lethal form of prostate cancer. The 4Kscore test uses a proprietary algorithm that incorporates the blood levels of four different prostate-derived kallikrein proteins: Total PSA, Free PSA, Intact PSA and Human Kallikrein-2 (hK2), plus the patient’s age, and other clinical information to calculate the percentage risk (probability) of finding a Gleason Score 7 or higher grade of prostate cancer. The four kallikrein panel of biomarkers utilized in the 4Kscore Test is based on over a decade of research conducted by scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and leading European institutions and is included as a standard of care in both the 2016 NCCN Early Detection Guidelines and the 2016 EAU Guidelines for prostate cancer. The 4Kscore test provides individualized risk for the presence of aggressive prostate cancer and adds new information to the shared decision making discussion between the Urologist and the patient.

On March 15, 2016 Loxo Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq:LOXO), a biopharmaceutical company innovating the development of highly selective medicines for patients with genetically defined cancers, reported fourth quarter and year-end 2015 financial results and provided an update on its drug development programs (Press release, Loxo Oncology, MAR 15, 2016, View Source [SID:1234509558]). Loxo Oncology will not be conducting a conference call in conjunction with this earnings release.

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!

"We ended 2015 with great momentum behind LOXO-101 and our pipeline programs," said Josh Bilenker, M.D., chief executive officer of Loxo Oncology. "We are excited to announce that updated LOXO-101 adult Phase 1 data have been selected for an oral plenary session at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) in April. This presentation will provide further follow-up on the first three enrolled patients with TRK fusions that responded to LOXO-101, and will provide initial response assessment and follow-up on the next three enrolled patients with TRK fusions. We are also pleased to announce that we have developed a next-generation selective TRK inhibitor, LOXO-195, in collaboration with our partner Array BioPharma. Last year, we supported academic research to anticipate potential mechanisms of acquired resistance to TRK inhibition and we have continued to follow published literature reports that corroborate and add to those results. Should a patient progress on LOXO-101 or another compound, we hope LOXO-195 will be able to induce a new response in the patient and functionally extend time on therapy."

Dr. Bilenker continued, "We are fortunate that our financing in November allows us to fund operations well into 2018, which we believe will provide ample runway for potentially meaningful clinical data events for LOXO-101, LOXO-195, our RET program and other possible Array collaboration projects."

New Announcements

Updated LOXO-101 Phase 1 Data at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper): Loxo Oncology announced today that updated clinical data from the ongoing LOXO-101 Phase 1 trial were accepted for oral plenary session presentation at the 2016 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, taking place April 16-20, 2016. This presentation will be an update to data presented at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC meeting in November 2015, with a focus on enrolled patients with TRK fusions. The abstract title will be posted online at 4:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 16.
Next-Generation Selective TRK Inhibitor: Acquired resistance to targeted therapies has proven to be an important component of long-term cancer care and targeted therapy drug development. In anticipation of potential resistance to LOXO-101, and in light of recent published literature regarding emerging mechanisms of resistance to TRK inhibition, Loxo Oncology today unveiled its next-generation selective TRK inhibitor, LOXO-195, which is capable of addressing potential mechanisms of acquired resistance that may emerge in patients receiving LOXO-101 or multikinase inhibitors with anti-TRK activity. With the LOXO-195 program, Loxo Oncology has an opportunity to strengthen its leadership position in the field of TRK inhibition and clinically extend the duration of disease control for patients with TRK-driven cancers. Loxo Oncology will begin IND-enabling activities in 2016 that should enable initiation of a LOXO-195 Phase 1 study in 2017.
2015 Financial Results and 2016 Cash Guidance. As of December 31, 2015, Loxo Oncology had cash, cash equivalents and investments of $153.9 million. The company expects a cash burn of $48 to $52 million in 2016. The company believes that based upon its current operating plan, its existing capital resources will be sufficient to fund its anticipated operations well into 2018.

Recent Highlights

LOXO-101 Program

LOXO-101 Phase 1 Pediatric Trial Initiated: In December, Loxo Oncology enrolled the first patient in the LOXO-101 pediatric Phase 1 trial, a multicenter, open-label trial in pediatric patients with advanced solid or primary CNS tumors.
LOXO-101 Phase 1 Data Presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC: Results from the Phase 1 study of LOXO-101 were reported in a late-breaking oral presentation at the 27th AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in November. As of the October 20, 2015 cutoff date, six patients with cancers harboring TRK fusions had been enrolled and treated. Three of the six patients with TRK fusion cancers had been on study long enough for their first efficacy assessment, and all three had achieved an objective response at the first response assessment, as defined by standard RECIST criteria. See the full data here.
LOXO-101 Phase 2 Basket Trial Initiated: In October, Loxo Oncology enrolled the first patient in the LOXO-101 Phase 2 trial, a global, multi-center, single-arm, open-label basket trial in adult patients with solid tumors that harbor a TRK fusion.
LOXO-101 Selected for NCI-MATCH Trial: In October, the independent committee of the National Cancer Institute-Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (NCI-MATCH) clinical trial chose LOXO-101 as the sole, dedicated treatment arm for patients with TRK gene fusions. Loxo Oncology anticipates that the NCI will activate the TRK fusion arm of this study later in 2016.

Pipeline: RET and FGFR Pre-clinical Programs

Data on RET and FGFR Programs Presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC: Loxo Oncology presented two preclinical posters at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper)-NCI-EORTC containing the first publicly disclosed data for its Rearranged during Transfection (RET) and Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor (FGFR) programs showing potential best-in-class selectivity and target coverage.
RET Clinical Trial Initiation: Consistent with prior guidance, the company plans to initiate a Phase 1 study of its RET inhibitor in late 2016 or early 2017.

Corporate Activities

Strengthened Balance Sheet: Loxo Oncology raised $76.2 million in gross proceeds in an equity financing in November 2015. Loxo Oncology’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities are expected to be sufficient to fund operations well into 2018.

Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2015 Financial Results

Cash, cash equivalents and investments totaled $153.9 million as of December 31, 2015, compared to $112.9 million as of December 31, 2014. The increase was attributable to $71.3 million in net proceeds from our November 2015 equity financing offset by $30.3 million in cash burn.

Research and development expenses were $9.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $4.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. The increase was primarily attributable to expanded Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical development activities for LOXO-101 and additional full-time equivalents and other support dedicated to discovery, preclinical, and manufacturing activities at Array BioPharma or third-party vendors.

Research and development expenses were $25.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to $14.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. The increase was primarily due to expanded Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical development activities for LOXO-101 and additional full-time equivalents and other support dedicated to discovery, preclinical, and manufacturing activities at Array BioPharma or third-party vendors. The company also recognized R&D-related stock-based compensation expense of $3.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2015 compared to $2.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2014.

General and administrative expenses were $3.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $2.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. The increase was primarily due to additional full-time equivalents, increased compensation costs and increased costs associated with operating as a public company.

General and administrative expenses were $10.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to $6.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. The increase was primarily due to additional full-time equivalents, increased compensation costs and increased costs associated with operating as a public company. The company also recognized G&A-related stock-based compensation expense of $2.8 million during the year ended December 31, 2015 compared to $1.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2014.

Net loss attributable to common stockholders was $12.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to $7.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2014. Net loss attributable to common stockholders was $35.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, compared to $20.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2014.

About LOXO-101

LOXO-101 is a potent, oral and selective investigational new drug in clinical development for the treatment of patients with cancers that harbor abnormalities involving the tropomyosin receptor kinases (TRKs). Growing research suggests that the NTRK genes, which encode for TRKs, can become abnormally fused to other genes, resulting in growth signals that can lead to cancer in many sites of the body. In an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial, LOXO-101 has demonstrated encouraging preliminary efficacy. LOXO-101 is also being evaluated in a global Phase 2 multi-center basket trial in patients with solid tumors that harbor TRK gene fusions, and a Phase 1 dose escalation trial in pediatric cancer patients. For additional information about both the LOXO-101 clinical trials, please refer to www.clinicaltrials.gov. Interested patients and physicians can contact the Loxo Oncology Physician and Patient Clinical Trial Hotline at 1-855-NTRK-123.