On August 8, 2018 Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHV), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company committed to the global development and commercialization of cytisine for smoking cessation, reported its second quarter 2018 financial results (Press release, OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, AUG 8, 2018, View Source [SID1234528789]).
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Recent Achieve Highlights
Announced plans to initiate a Phase 2b optimization trial in the fourth quarter of 2018 following a meeting conducted with the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Closed underwritten public offering for gross proceeds of $13.8 million
Reported positive data demonstrating no clinically significant drug-drug interactions from a series of drug metabolism, drug interaction, and transporter studies evaluating cytisine
Announced publication of data on next-generation cytisine molecules
Announced new patent granted on novel formulation of cytisine
Rick Stewart, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Achieve Life Sciences commented, "we have made tremendous progress over the past few months on the cytisine development program, particularly the outcome of our discussions with the FDA that have provided us with clarity on our overall development strategy."
FDA Meeting Outcome and Phase 2b Optimization Trial
Recent discussions with the FDA concluded that the Company may proceed with the Phase 3 program, however they recommended consideration of alternative dosing strategies that may enhance patient compliance. Consistent with this advice, Achieve plans to conduct a 250-patient Phase 2b trial in the U.S. that will evaluate overall treatment efficacy, safety, and compliance profiles of various cytisine dosing regimens compared to placebo.
Completed $13.8M Financing
Achieve announced the closing of an underwritten public offering of units for gross proceeds of $13.8 million, which includes the full exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option to purchase additional shares and warrants, prior to deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses.
Positive Data Demonstrating No Clinically Significant Drug-to-Drug Interaction Studies
A series of drug metabolism, drug-to-drug interaction, and transporter studies demonstrated that cytisine has no clinically significant interaction with any of the hepatic enzymes commonly responsible for drug metabolism nor clinically significant interaction with drug transporters. This suggests that cytisine may be administered with other medications without the need to modify the dose of the co-administered drug.
Data on Next-Generation Cytisine Molecules Published
The Company announced that cytisine data, generated in collaboration with the University of Bristol, was published in Chem. Data show that via the use of C-H activation chemistry, the cytisine molecule can be modified in a highly targeted and selective manner to generate a new class of cytisine derivatives that may enable future development of product candidates for smoking cessation and other indications.
Patent Granted on Cytisine Succinate Salt
Achieve announced in May that the UK Intellectual Property Office granted a patent (no. 2550241) on cytisine succinate salt. The Company has been pursuing cytisine succinate salt as a novel new drug product formulation that may further enhance cytisine product stability and long term potency. The Company has filed the patent globally under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, or PCT, in July.
Financial Results
As of June 30, 2018, the company’s cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and restricted cash was $15.3 million. Total operating expenses and net loss for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 was $2.8 million and $5.8 million, respectively.
As of August 8, 2018 Achieve had 4,551,005 shares outstanding.
Conference Call Details
Achieve will host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time today, Wednesday August 8, 2018, to provide an update on the cytisine clinical development program and announce second quarter 2018 financial results. A live event will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Achieve website at View Source Alternatively, you may access the live conference call at (877) 472-9809 (U.S. & Canada) or (629) 228-0791 (International – additional toll-free international dial-in numbers are also available on the event page) and referencing conference ID 1468638. A webcast replay will be available on Achieve’s website for 90 days after the call.